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GUWAHATI, JUNE 5: Tonmoy Sharma, a 61-year-old Indian-American psychiatrist and former CEO of Sovereign Health Group, was arrested in the US on suspicion of masterminding a huge $149 million healthcare fraud scheme.
Sharma, who hails from Guwahati, Assam, was arrested on May 29 at Los Angeles International Airport on an eight-count federal grand jury indictment. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Sharma is charged with filing false insurance claims worth more than $149 million. The charges are against Sovereign Health Group, which formerly ran a string of addiction-treatment centers throughout Southern California.
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The company is accused of enrolling patients in health insurance plans without their knowledge and submitting claims for medical procedures that were not approved or were not necessary—essentially expensive urinalysis tests. These false claims are reported to have cost more than $29 million in payments.
Aside from the fraudulent billing, Sharma has been charged with paying more than $21 million in improper kickbacks in order to obtain patient referrals, in contravention of federal anti-kickback statutes. He faces four wire fraud charges, one conspiracy charge for fraud, and three counts of improper remunerations for referrals of clinical services.
Sharma’s co-defendant, Paul Jin Sen Khor, has also been taken into custody and has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to start on July 29. The federal probe into Sovereign Health Group began in 2017, when the FBI raided the firm’s San Clemente headquarters, its treatment centers, and Sharma’s San Juan Capistrano home. The company shut down in 2018.
Prior to these allegations, Sharma enjoyed a respected career in psychiatry. He was known for his work in schizophrenia research and neuropsychiatry. A graduate of Dibrugarh Medical College and a former intern at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, Sharma later acquired a medical license in the UK and became an influential voice in the field. He authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles, co-authored five books, and held positions on the editorial and advisory boards of several prestigious medical journals.
Sharma comes from a culturally prominent family in Assam. He is the eldest son of the late Phani Sharma, a noted sports organizer and former owner of Guwahati’s Anuradha, Rupayan, and Anupama cinema halls. He is also the brother-in-law of senior Congress leader Bobeeta Sharma.
