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Harsha Sahni, 68, was sentenced on Monday, Oct. 28 to two years and three months in prison, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. The former rheumatologist with a practice in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor aliens and filing a false tax return.
According to court documents and statements, Sahni recruited the Indian nationals to work for her and her family as household servants between 2013 and August 2021. Sahni also scared the women into believing they would be deported if they spoke to police.
Prosecutors said Sahni only paid one woman's family in India about $240 to $600 a month. That victim worked daily in the doctor's home from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sahni also prevented the woman from getting potentially life-saving treatment for a brain aneurysm. When she started developing headaches after a 2014 crash, Sahni told her that she couldn't rest and she should take Tylenol to finish her work.
As the victim's headaches got worse, Sahni told her that it would be too expensive to see a doctor and she couldn't be treated because she didn't have documentation that she was legally in the U.S. Sahni kept treating the woman's headaches with Tylenol and unidentified pain medications until 2021 when Sahni brought her to an emergency room.
Sahni lied to doctors, saying she was the woman's sister and was her translator since she couldn't speak English. A CT scan revealed the victim had an unruptured aneurysm and doctors said she needed surgery to prevent her from dying.
Prosecutors said despite Sahni's medical knowledge and sworn Hippocratic oath, she encouraged the victim to leave the hospital and continue working the rest of that evening.
"The criminal exploitation and utter disregard for the well-being of the victims in this case shocks the conscience and violates the most basic principles of medical practice," Attorney General Matthew Platkin said when Sahni's medical license was suspended in August 2023.
Investigators said the day after the ER visit, Sahni brought the woman for a follow-up examination at JFK University Medical Center’s Neuroscience Institute in Edison. Neurosurgeons said there was a one-in-five chance the aneurysm could rupture and kill the victim.
Sahni had claimed she was the woman's primary care physician and received a letter from the neurosurgeons explaining the woman was a "high mortality risk." Despite that, Sahni told the victim not to have surgery and to continue her normal household work.
The woman then spoke with her family back in India and said she wanted to have the surgery but Sahni told her that she couldn't have the procedure until she found someone to cover for her work at the home. According to prosecutors, there's no evidence that the victim had a follow-up treatment or surgery before police removed her from Sahni's home.
Prosecutors also said Sahni falsely claimed the woman was a domestic violence victim to get her free dental treatment in 2016. Sahni filled out an entire charity application for her, identified herself as a medical professional on the victim's behalf, and lied about the victim's dental problems being caused by abuse from the victim's husband.
The woman was treated by a volunteer dentist who wasn't paid for about $6,000 worth of services. Sahni also ran a similar scam to get the victim cheaper services from the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey Community Health Center.
When she pleaded guilty, Sahni admitted she gave the victims food, clothes, and housing, along with paying them at a cheaper rate than legally employed housekeepers. Sahni also confessed to not paying taxes and failing to disclose the victims' work on her personal income taxes.
Sahni also admitted to having the women use fake names and addresses to hide their true identities. Sahni even instructed them to tell other people they were her relatives.
According to her page on Healthgrades, Sahni graduated from Lady Hardinge Medical College at the University Of Delhi in 1981. She was once affiliated with Riverview Medical Center and Saint Peter's University Hospital.
A judge ordered Sahni to pay $728,327 in restitution. She also must pay up to $200,000 in medical costs for the woman who had the brain aneurysm.
After her prison sentence, Sahni will have two years of supervised release.
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