A skilled nursing and assisted living facility’s social services director has pleaded guilty to participating in a kickback scheme involving home care referrals.
Anita Vijay, 50, solicited and received the illegal payments, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. In exchange, she helped steer about 60 Medicare beneficiaries to certain home care and hospice settings in Folsom and El Dorado, CA. The agencies’ owners gave the kickbacks to her and husband, Jai Vijay, according to court records. Jai Vijay pleaded guilty to charges in February.
Medicare eventually reimbursed the agencies approximately $400,000 for services they purportedly provided. Because the agencies obtained the referrals by paying kickbacks, they should not have received any Medicare payments.
Vijay is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 3. She faces up to five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and 10 years in prison for the kickback charge. She also could be fined up to $250,000, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott said.
