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Dr. Fazal Panezai, a 76-year-old cardiologist from Morganville, at one point submitted claims for a single day's worth of visits to his Matawan-Aberdeen Heart & Medical Center in May 2022 that totaled 27.9 hours, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Hei also billed health insurance providers more than $80,000 for office visits when he was out of the country, the U.S. attorney said.
Panezai also submitted claims for office visits when patients only picked up a prescription from the front desk., Sellinger said.
The reimbursement checks continued rolling into the center, with Panezai collecting more than $1.9 million he said.
Rather than risk the potential outcome of a trial, Panezai took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to health care fraud in federal court in Trenton in a bid for leniency.
U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner scheduled sentencing for Aug. 20.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, assisted by Matawah police, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney DeNae Thomas of his Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.
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