An Atlanta radiologist was found guilty Thursday of numerous fraud charges by a jury in federal district court, authorities said.
Dr. Rajashakher P. Reddy, 41, was found guilty of 20 counts of wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud, four counts of health care fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice after a six-day trial, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced. He was acquitted of five counts of wire fraud.
Reddy ran "Reddy Solutions Inc.," with provided services to hospitals in the Southeast that do not have full-time radiology coverage.
“He produced tens of thousands of reports claiming to include his medical findings and diagnoses based on radiology studies that had been performed, when in fact all those interpretations had been performed by non-qualified medical assistants,” United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said.
From May 2007 through January 2008, Reddy signed and submitted thousands of reports without even reviewing many of the X-rays, mammograms, CT scans and other films, according to evidence presented during the trial. He sometimes had employees sign reports for him using his electronic password, authorities said.
Facilities that may have received fraudulent reports include Mountain Lakes Medical Center in Clayton, Ga.; Upson Regional Medical Center in Thomaston, Ga.; Bullock County Hospital in Union Springs, Ala.; Crenshaw Community Hospital in Lucerne, Ala.; and Columbus Diagnostic Centers in Columbus, Ga., authorities said.
Reddy, who was indicted in November 2009, also was convicted of obstructing the investigation by instructing his employees to destroy records subpoenaed by the government and create new ones. He also asked employees to lie to investigators, authorities said.
He could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the fraud and obstruction counts. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
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