JACKSON — Dr. Meera Sachdeva stood in silence as U.S. Magistrate Linda R. Anderson read off the 11 counts of health care fraud and four counts of money laundering facing the Summit oncologist.
Sachdeva pleaded not guilty to the charges outlined during her arraignment in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Sachdeva, 50, the founder of the Rose Cancer Center in Summit, bilked Medicaid, Medicare and private insurers out of millions.
After entering her plea with the only two words she spoke at the hearing — “not guilty” — Sachdeva, shackled and wearing an orange prison jump suit, was escorted to a bench beside another shackled inmate to await her exit from the courtroom.
Anderson set Sachdeva’s trial for Oct. 17. She has been held without bond since Aug. 11. Anderson ordered her continued detention. Her attorney, Rob McDuff, did not argue for a bond or continuance.
If convicted on all 15 counts, Sachdeva faces up to 165 years in prison and more than $3.25 million in fines. The indictment also calls for the forfeiture of several parcels of real estate and about $6 million in cash, most of which was seized by the government on Aug. 10.
Prosecutors say Sachdeva gave patients less chemotherapy or cheaper drugs than they were told, while billing Medicaid and Medicare for more. Prosecutors also say the clinic billed for new syringes for each patient even though it allegedly reused some on multiple people.The clinic, established in south Mississippi in 2005, billed Medicaid and Medicare for about $15.1 million during the alleged scheme.
The clinic’s former office manager, 24-year-old Brittany McCoskey of Monticello, and a former billing agent, 43-year-old Monica Weeks of Madison, pleaded not guilty at their arraignments. They’re both free on bond.
The charges also allege all three Rose Cancer Center employees “knowingly and willfully concealed” payments made and health care products delivered to Sachdeva.
The trio also is accused of destroying records.
The Mississippi Health Department closed the clinic in July due to “unsafe infection control practices” after 11 patients went to hospitals with the same bacterial infection. Officials are in the process of testing hundreds of patients for HIV and other diseases because of concerns of contamination from dirty needles.
