Tag: conspiracy

Indian-American doctor admits healthcare fraud conspiracy

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New York: An Indian-American doctor has admitted defrauding New Jersey state and local health benefit programmes and other insurers by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary prescriptions.
Saurabh Patel, 51, who owns a medical clinic in Newark, pleaded guilty by videoconference before the US District Judge Robert B. Kugler last week to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud.
Saurabh of Woodbridge, New Jersey, was previously charged by indictment with conspiring in the healthcare fraud scheme with a family member, Kaival Patel.
According to court documents, despite having no background in pharmaceuticals or medicine, Kaival and his wife created and operated a company called ABC Healthy Living LLC to market medical products and services, including compound prescription medications.
Kaival and an accomplice then approached Saurabh and convinced him to authorise prescriptions for the compound medications for which they received commissions, regardless of whether or not those prescriptions were medically necessary.
The conspirators steered individuals who were paid to receive the compound medications to Saurabh’s medical practice for the purpose of receiving his authorisation on the fraudulent prescriptions, a Department of Justice said in a statement.
This enabled Saurabh to receive insurance payments for those patient visits and procedures. In addition to the people steered to Saurabh’s medical practice as part of the scheme, Kaival also instructed Saurabh on which insurance companies covered the compound medications.
Thereafter, he requested that Saurabh prescribe those medications to existing patients of his practice with those insurance plans in order to further benefit Kaival and his wife.

Kaival was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, substantive counts of money laundering, and making false statements to federal agents.
He is scheduled to proceed to trial later this year.
Saurabh faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2023.
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#IndianAmerican #doctor #admits #healthcare #fraud #conspiracy
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 20, 2023
‘A Holy Conspiracy’ presents true picture of our times, says Naseeruddin Shah

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New Delhi: Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah on Saturday said his latest film “A Holy Conspiracy” depicts the true situation of the society plagued by toxicity.
Directed by Saibal Mitra, the courtroom drama explores the subject of constitutional right to differ in religious beliefs.
It is adapted from the American play “Inherit the Wind” that was inspired by the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial in Tennessee, USA, wherein a school teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution theory in a church-funded school.
Speaking at a session during ‘MOSAIC: Judte-Judte (unite) JNU!’ festival in Jawaharlal Nehru University here, the actor said he read the play in the 1970s and ever since wanted to be a part of its adaptation in any form.
“‘Inherit the Wind’ is a play that I read in the mid-70s and it was a great piece of writing and I wanted to do it on the stage but couldn’t… It picturised the toxicity in which we are living today and the dependence on superstition where we are beginning to mistake mythology for history. I felt I certainly should be a part of this movie,” Shah said.
In “A Holy Conspiracy”, a science teacher is suspended from his Christian missionary school, and imprisoned on false charges, when he refuses to teach the Biblical story of creation before Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
The story then follows the courtroom battle between a reclusive lawyer Anton De Souza (Shah) and his old ally Reverend Basanta Kumar Chatterjee, played by late cinema legend Soumitra Chatterjee.
Shah said as an actor he aims to capture life as it is through his work and “A Holy Conspiracy” ticked all the boxes.

“I felt this is a significant film because it is trying to portray a true picture of the times and that’s the kind of cinema I believe is significant. This is why I consider documentaries more significant than feature films. Documentaries can capture life as it is which no other form can do.
“Cinema is a combination of all the other art forms. It’s a mix of theatre, photography, painting, architecture, sculpture, music and choreography. It has assimilated all these forms… So I said yes to this without any hesitation. This is a film that might be seen 50 or 100 years later and will give a true picture of what the situation of our country was like in our time,” the 72-year-old actor said.
So keen was the actor to be a part of the project that he would have said yes to any role in the film.
“I felt a responsibility to definitely be a part of this film. I would have appeared in any capacity Saibal wanted me. I have played many great roles and I’m not hungry for them anymore. I’m not thirsty for roles. I want to be part of films that I will enjoy and which will be remembered,” he added.
Shah said when he starts working on a film, he never thinks about how the final outcome.
“When I’m in the middle of a job I don’t think about how this is going to turn out. I just try to concentrate on what I’m supposed to do,” he added.
As an artiste, Shah said he doesn’t believe that an actor should lose himself in a role.
“There are many senior actors who would say ‘I was so lost in my performance that I didn’t notice anything’. I think that kind of talk is nonsense. If you get lost, you should not be acting. You should be alert to everything.
“So I just concentrate on what I’m supposed to do. Whether a film turns out good is not in my hands. There is no way to predict how a film will turn out when you read a script. That is entirely up to the maker.”
Another reason for saying yes to “A Holy Conspiracy” was the opportunity to collaborate with Chatterjee. The movie was shot before the legendary actor’s demise in November 2020 at the age of 85.
“I was also looking forward to working with Soumitra Chatterjee. I have to admit I greatly envied him. He appeared in great movies like ‘Apu Sansar’ and many others with Satyajit Ray.
“When I did meet him, he was extremely nice and civil. He appreciated my work and everything but he wasn’t in the best of health at that time,” Shah said.
Director Mitra said though “A Holy Conspiracy” was released in India in July last year, the team could not publicise the movie much to bring the audience to the theatres.
“There are people who want it to come on OTT and everything but we don’t have any place on OTT. Some executives told me that they liked the movie but they can’t take the film on their platform. So I don’t know, someday we will find this film on YouTube. It is for the people,” Mitra said.
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#Holy #Conspiracy #presents #true #picture #times #Naseeruddin #Shah
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 11, 2023
Hyderabad: NIA takes over ‘terror attack conspiracy case’

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Hyderabad: The Ministry of Home Affairs directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the terror attack conspiracy case which was being handled by the CCS.
CCS arrested the accused trio including Abdul Zahed, Sameeduddin and Maaz Hasson Farooq from Moosarambagh, in October 2022, for allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks in the city before Dasara.
The accused Abdul Zahed, a resident of Moosarambagh was booked under Sections 18, 18(B) and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for being a part of several terror-related cases in Hyderabad.
He had recruited several youths, including Maaz Hasson Farooq and Sameeduddin based on the directions of Pakistan-based handlers who belong to LeT/ISI.
He reportedly conspired with his gang members to carry out terror acts, including blasts and lone-wolf attacks in Hyderabad.
Zahed had also received hand grenades from his handlers from across the border and was planning to hurl those at public gatherings or during processions in order to create communal tension in the city, according to a police FIR.
The police seized two hand grenades, two mobile phones and Rs 3.91 lakh cash from Zahed during the probe.
However, the NIA is of the opinion that a scheduled offence under National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 has been committed as it has inter-state and international links, and it is required to be investigated by the central agency.

The CCS Hyderabad police have handed over the case files to NIA officials.
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#Hyderabad #NIA #takes #terror #attack #conspiracy #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 6, 2023
BBC documentary on PM Modi is “international conspiracy”: BJP leader CT Ravi

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Bengaluru: BJP national general secretary CT Ravi on Saturday condemned BBC for misleading the audience with its documentary ‘The Modi Question’ and called it an “international conspiracy”.
While speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru, the BJP leader accused BBC of presenting incomplete information in the documentary.
“The BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi is nothing but an international conspiracy. After the 2002 riots, BJP won more than five times in Gujarat and a second time in the centre. He is a world-known and popular leader,” he said.
He stated that the documentary did not cover the Nanavati report which concluded that the Gujarat riots were devoid of any conspiracy.
Targeting the anti-government elements, he said that the documentary is a propaganda of the people who despise the Modi-led government.
He further exclaimed that the people should trust the verdict of the Supreme court which gave a clean chit to PM Modi and not the BBC documentary and English people who plundered India during the British rule.
“With ‘Anti-Modi gangs interviews’ BBC did not show the Nanavati report. Even SC in January 2022 order gave a clean chit and rejected the plea. What is the agenda for making such documentaries? Those who do not like the development of India, the anti-Modi gang and the frustrated lost parties created the conspiracy through the BBC documentary,” he said.
The general secretary slammed Congress and alleged the party’s link with the documentary.

He questioned BBC’s decision to make the documentary about the Gujarat riots 20 years after the incident and stated that the BJP has overcome such false narratives, while also mentioning that the documentary could have been made by presenting all the truthful facts.
“BBC interviewed only anti-modi people and did not consider the SC’s order. This is an agenda to create a bad image of the country and the PM,” he said.
Earlier, this month, the government denounced the BBC series ‘The Modi Question’, calling it a “propaganda piece designed to push a discredited narrative”.
The government also pulled down the series from various social media platforms, including Twitter and Youtube.
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#BBC #documentary #Modi #international #conspiracy #BJP #leader #Ravi
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
BBC documentary on PM is conspiracy against India: Goa Governor

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Panaji: A BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots that has sparked controversy is a “conspiracy” against India, said Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai on Thursday.
The “character assassination of the prime minister” amounts to an onslaught, insult and a malicious act against the country, said the governor during his address after inspecting a Republic Day parade near Panaji.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has criticised the documentary titled “India: The Modi Question” as a “propaganda piece” that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.
Governor Pillai said that the present controversy was “ill-motivated”, adding in the same breath that he was “not criticising Britain which is one of the friendly countries of India now”.
Unlike a common citizen who can approach the court in case of character assassination, the PM, President, Vice President and ministers have to be represented by public prosecutors in such cases, he said. “This means character assassination of the Prime Minister amounts to an onslaught, an insult, a malicious act against the country. That is why I would like to say BBC’s present act is not good,” he said.
The governor said that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is not an independent organisation. “It is answerable to British Parliament. I am not blaming the British government but there’s some conspiracy against India,” he said.
Pillai said that he does not want to go much into the present circumstances but after PM Modi “became the head of the G20 group”, he has given a call for “one world, one family, one future”.
India has taken over the presidency – which rotates annually between members – of the Group of Twenty countries.

Talking to reporters later, the governor said that under the system of law followed by “us and the conventions”, an attack or character assassination of the PM would amount to an attack on the sovereignty of the country.
In this case, the governor, the “attack” on the PM is also a challenge to the Indian Judiciary. “Indian Judiciary is the finest in the world. They had monitored this case (Gujarat riots) and there is nothing to connect the PM to it, not even a whisper is against him,” he said.
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#BBC #documentary #conspiracy #India #Goa #Governor
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 26, 2023
4 more Oath Keepers found guilty of seditious conspiracy tied to Jan. 6 attack

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Seditious conspiracy, which requires prosecutors to prove that defendants planned to forcibly prevent the execution of a U.S. law, is the gravest charge to emerge from the Jan. 6 attack. The government has secured 10 convictions for seditious conspiracy since last year, including three other Oath Keepers and a member of the far-right Proud Boys who pleaded guilty to the charge. Five Proud Boys leaders, including the group’s national chair Enrique Tarrio, are currently on trial on seditious conspiracy charges, as well.
Prosecutors say the Oath Keepers began planning to derail the transfer of power shortly after Biden was projected to be the winner of the 2020 election. Though Rhodes and other members of the group said they merely came to Washington to act as security details for speakers at Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, members of the group later joined the mob breaching the Capitol building.
Nearly two dozen Oath Keepers entered the Capitol through the Columbus Doors near the rotunda before splitting into two groups and heading toward the House and Senate chambers.
The Oath Keepers also organized a large stockpile of firearms and other weaponry at a hotel in Arlington, Va., which they intended for use if the violence escalated even further. Vallejo remained stationed at the hotel, prepared to shuttle the weapons to D.C. if the group called on him, but it never did.
Members of the group remained stoic as the verdict was read aloud. Seated in a row of the public gallery were Tarrio’s mother; the mother of Ashli Babbitt, a Jan. 6 rioter who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer while trying to breach the House chamber; and Nicole Reffitt, whose husband is serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for obstruction of Congress’ Jan. 6 proceedings. They were also present earlier in the day when Jan. 6 defendant Richard Barnett — who is featured in famous images with his feet on a desk in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office suite — was found guilty on eight charges related to the breach of the Capitol.
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#Oath #Keepers #guilty #seditious #conspiracy #tied #Jan #attack
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
Indian sentenced in US for $3.5mn drug smuggling conspiracy

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New York: A 34 year-old Indian has been sentenced to 87 months in prison for operating a pharmacy that sold unapproved prescription drugs and controlled substances, including opioids, and shipped them from Asia into the US.
The federal court in Boston ordered Manish Kumar ro pay a fine of $100,000 and sentenced him to more than seven years in prison and three months of supervised release, a statement by US attorney office, Massachusetts, said.
Kumar was a partner in Mihu Business Solutions Pvt, Ltd — a Mumbai-based drug company which he operated through multiple entities, including “All Herb Distributors”, “365 Life Group”, and “Health Life 365 Co”.
From at least 2015 until 2019, he used these entities to ship millions of illegal and unapproved prescription pills into the US to individuals who did not have prescriptions, the statement said.
He trafficked prescription drugs, including generic erectile dysfunction drugs, and Schedule II controlled substances, such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and tapentadol, and Schedule IV controlled substances, such as tramadol.
Kumar’s operation directly marketed drugs to customers in the US through advertising and calls to prospective customers from call centers in India.
As part of the conspiracy, he personally directed and managed shipments of drugs from drug suppliers in Singapore and India into Massachusetts and other US states.
In total, Kumar’s drug business generated more than $3.5 million in revenue and shipped millions of illegal and unapproved pills into the US to individuals who did not have prescriptions.

After his arrest, Kumar made false statements to law enforcement in February 2020 about his involvement in the sale of controlled substances.
In October 2022, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to import misbranded prescription drugs and controlled substances; conspiracy to distribute Schedule II and Schedule IV controlled substances; and one count of making false statements to federal officers.
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#Indian #sentenced #3.5mn #drug #smuggling #conspiracy
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 21, 2023