Please E-mail suggested additions, comments and/or corrections to Kent@MoreLaw.Com.

Help support the publication of case reports on MoreLaw

Date: 08-30-2022

Case Style:

United States of America v. Dr. Sekhar Rao

Case Number: 3:19-cr-00507

Judge: Sam A. Lindsay

Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office

Defendant's Attorney:



Click Here to Watch How To Find A Lawyer by Kent Morlan

Click Here For The Best Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Directory


If no lawyer is listed, call 918-582-6422 and MoreLaw will help you find a lawyer for free.


Description: Dallas, Texas criminal lawyer represented Defendant charged with engaging in a scheme that fraudulently billed TRICARE, the health care program for uniformed service members, retirees, and their families, for toxicology and genetic tests that were not provided as represented and/or were medically unnecessary.

Dr. Sekhar Rao, 51, of Austin, was the medical director of the ADAR Group LLC. Rao authorized toxicology and genetic testing, including cancer genetic testing, for TRICARE beneficiaries without seeing, speaking to, or otherwise treating patients, and without incorporating the test results into ongoing treatment. In some cases, the patients did not know what they were being tested for. TRICARE beneficiaries were enticed to provide urine or saliva specimens in exchange for $50 gift cards. Evidence at trial demonstrated that Rao was paid in exchange for signing off on medically unnecessary and repetitive toxicology and genetic tests.

Rao was convicted of two counts of health care fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 27, 2023 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each health care fraud count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham for the Northern District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Michael Mentavlos of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); Acting Special Agent in Charge Kelly Blackmon of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Dallas Regional Office; Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI Dallas Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Steven Grell of the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) Dallas Regional Office; and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Breen of the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) South Central Field Office made the announcement.

DCIS, HHS-OIG, FBI, DOL-OIG, and VA-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Shy Jackson and Lee Michael Hirsch of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

18 USC § 1347 and 2 Health Care Fraud

Outcome: A jury convicted the Defendant.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments:



Find a Lawyer

Subject:
City:
State:
 

Find a Case

Subject:
County:
State: