NYC Doctor Accused of Falsely Telling Patients They Had HIV

It's a hard-to-believe accusation, but one that prosecutors believe to be true. A New York City doctor allegedly told about a dozen patients that they were infected with the HIV virus. Then, he purportedly treated them and billed Medicaid $700,000. As a result, he may face 15 years behind bars. FOX News has more:

Suresh Hemrajani, 57, was arraigned Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court on felony charges of grand larceny, fraud and falsifying business records. He was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail...

The doctor also created false records of his purported repeated treatments of the patients, even though most of them never visited his office more than once.

The scam was only revealed after the patients later attempted to obtain prescriptions from a hospital, were tested, and found to be HIV-negative, Vance said.

The New York Daily News claims that some of the patients may have been in on the scam, though this isn't yet confirmed:

A law enforcement source said that the internist's unnamed patients may have participated in the fraud.

"By taking advantage of a program intended to assist New Yorkers who cannot afford to pay for medical care, the defendant victimized not only the neediest members of our community but also all New York taxpayers," District Attorney Vance said.

The case was a joint investigation with the New York City Human Resources Administration.