Indian Doctor In New York Pleads Guilty To Accepting Bribes

New York: An Indian-originpaediatrician in the US haspleaded guilty to acceptingbribes in exchange for testreferrals as part of a longrunningscheme operatedby a diagnosticfirm.Surender Gorukanti,46, of Brooklyn, NewYork, admitted beforeUS District JudgeStanley Chesler inNewark federal court toinformation charging him withone count of accepting bribes,Attorney Paul Fishman said.Besides Gorukanti, 24 people,including 14 physicians havepleaded guilty in connectionwith the bribery scheme, whichits organisers have admittedinvolved millions of dollars inbribes and resulted in more thanUSD 100 million in payments tothe diagnostic firm fromMedicare and various privateinsurance companies.Gorukanti admitted he acceptedcheques of USD 1,000 permonth as bribes from the firmin return for referring patientblood specimens to it. Thebribery count to whichGorukanti pleaded guiltycarries a maximumpotential penalty offive years in prisonand a USD 250,000fine. Sentencing isscheduled for June16.As part of his guiltyplea, Gorukanti agreed toforfeit USD 14,000, representingthe bribes he received fromthe firm. The investigation hasrecovered more than USD 7million to date through forfeiture.