Bhaskar Savani and Arun Savani, two Indian-origin brothers from Pennsylvania in the US, who ran a multi-state criminal enterprise involving a visa fraud scheme, healthcare fraud, and money laundering have been convicted and face over 400 years in jail, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said on Monday.
The US authorities said the Savani brothers filed false H-1B visa applications and petitions to exploit foreign workers and defrauded the US’ Medicaid program of over $30 million.
The two convicts were also involved in money laundering through complex channel of Savani Group corporate entities’ bank accounts and also carried out dental surgeries without approval from US federal health agency.
Visa fraud, money laundering and many more
The brothers, Bhaskar and Arun built what the US prosecutors described as a “complex criminal enterprise” known as the “Savani Group”, which generated millions of dollars through multiple fraud schemes, the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement on March 9.
While 60-year-old Bhaskar Savani, a dentist in Ambler, Pennsylvania, was convicted of several charges, including conspiring to violate the RICO law, visa fraud, healthcare fraud, money laundering and conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
His brother, Arun, 58, was convicted of one count of conspiring to violate the RICO law, one count of conspiring to commit visa fraud, one count of visa fraud, one count of conspiring to obstruct justice, one count of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud, among other charges.
“Defendant Bhaskar Savani was a dentist by training. Defendant Arun Savani generally controlled the finances of the Savani Group. Through their criminal enterprise, Bhaskar and Arun Savani orchestrated long-running schemes to enrich themselves, including through,” the Justice Department statement said.
How the brother defrauded the US govt
The US authorities said that the brothers ran a visa fraud scheme that involved filing false H-1B visa applications and petitions with the US Department of Labor and US Citizenship and Immigration Services to recruit foreign workers, mostly from India, who were to return portions of their wages and fees to the Savani Group.
In another scheme, the brothers billed Medicaid using another dentist’s National Provider Identifier on dates when that dentist was outside the US and for procedures performed by uncredentialed dentists.
The brothers also fraudulently obtained Medicaid contracts and fraudulently bill Medicaid using nominee business owners after Savani Group dental practices were terminated from Medicaid insurance contracts.
They also ran a money laundering scheme to transfer and conceal health care fraud proceeds through a complex web of Savani group corporate entities’ bank accounts that ultimately benefited the brothers’ firm.
