CHICAGO (Diya TV) — A suburban Chicago physician has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for orchestrating a years-long healthcare fraud scheme that endangered patient health and drained taxpayer resources.
Dr. Mona Ghosh, 52, of Inverness, pleaded guilty last year to two counts of healthcare fraud. On June 9, U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama imposed the sentence and ordered her to pay $1.5 million in restitution, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
From 2018 to 2022, Ghosh ran Progressive Women’s Healthcare, S.C., an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. During that time, she and her employees submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid, Tricare, and private insurance companies.
The false claims included billing for procedures that were either not medically necessary or never performed, such as endometrial ablations, biopsies, ultrasounds, vaccinations, blood tests, and STD screenings. Some of the procedures were carried out without patient consent, prosecutors said.
Ghosh also inflated the length and complexity of office and telemedicine visits, using billing codes designed for higher reimbursements, even when the services provided did not qualify. She created false medical records to back up these claims, further deepening the fraud.
“Dr. Ghosh spent years traumatizing patients, lying to insurers, and stealing taxpayer money to feed her greed,” said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert W. ‘Wes’ DePodesta in the statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual added that Ghosh’s actions were “particularly egregious” because she put patients at risk, including performing unnecessary procedures that limited some patients’ ability to have children.
While the financial toll was high, officials stressed the personal damage to victims. Ghosh’s scheme compromised patient safety and violated the trust patients placed in her. Some endured unwarranted medical procedures, potentially affecting their long-term health and fertility.
The federal investigation found that Ghosh had directed her staff to take part in the scheme. The coordinated nature of the fraud raised serious concerns about the broader functioning of her clinic and how it misused healthcare systems.
Prosecutors commended the courage of the patients who came forward, describing them as critical to holding Ghosh accountable.
Ghosh’s sentencing follows a string of high-profile healthcare fraud cases involving medical professionals of Indian origin. Earlier this month, Tonmoy Sharma, a 61-year-old psychiatrist originally from Guwahati, Assam, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in connection with an alleged $149 million fraud scheme tied to his company, Sovereign Health Group.
Though unrelated, both cases highlight growing concerns about fraud in private medical practices and addiction treatment centers in the U.S.
The Ghosh case underscores the importance of oversight in private healthcare, particularly where taxpayer funds are involved. “When physicians submit fraudulent claims to federal healthcare programs, they divert resources away from those who truly need them,” said U.S. Attorney Pasqual.
With her ten-year sentence, Ghosh joins a growing list of healthcare professionals being held accountable for fraud and abuse. Authorities emphasized that the case should serve as a warning to others tempted to manipulate the healthcare system for personal gain.
