A federal jury in Boston has delivered a guilty verdict against a prominent physician, ending a decade-long scheme that involved multi-million dollar insurance scams and an elaborate game of hide-and-seek with the IRS.
Dr. Pankaj Merchia, a Harvard-trained sleep specialist with ties to both Florida and Massachusetts, now faces the prospect of years behind bars after being convicted on Tuesday of healthcare fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion.
The trial painted a picture of a medical professional who used his elite credentials to bypass the safeguards of the American healthcare system. Between 2017 and 2019, federal prosecutors proved that Merchia’s medical companies billed insurers for sleep apnea machines that patients weren’t even using…