New Jersey cardiologist faces up to 10 years in prison for $1.9M fraud scheme

The owner of a New Jersey cardiology practice played a central role in a years-long healthcare fraud scheme that involved billing insurance providers for more than $1.9 million in false claims. Now he faces up to 10 years in prison and a substantial fine.

Fazal Panezai, MD, the 76-year-old owner of Matawan-Aberdeen Heart and Medical Center, admitted in federal court to submitting false claims to at least six health insurance benefit programs for office visits that either never happened at all or did not happen for the length of time he claimed. The scheme roughly lasted from January 2017 to December 2022.

According to one example shared by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Panezai submitted claims for 27.9 hours of office visits that he said all occurred on the same day. He also billed insurance companies large amounts of money for office visits that he admitted occurred on days he was “out of the country and not conducting any office visits.” In addition, Panezai confessed to submitting false claims for office visits where patients picked up a prescription from his practice’s front desk and never interacted with him.