A federal grand jury has indicted a physician whom federal prosecutors say was a key player in a kickback scheme at Chicago-based Sacred Heart Hospital, six months after authorities dropped charges against him.
Venkateswara Kuchipudi, MD, was among four physicians and two hospital executives arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation nearly a year ago in connection with the FBI's investigation into payments to physicians in exchange for patient referrals to Sacred Heart Hospital.
Federal prosecutors dismissed all charges against Dr. Kuchipudi a month before the grand jury issued its first indictments in October 2013.
Dr. Kuchipudi has now been re-charged in the case and identified in a federal affidavit as one of the hospital's most prolific sources of patients, according to a Crain's Chicago Business report.
The new indictment also adds two new defendants to the case — former Sacred Heart COO Clarence Nagelvoort and Jagdish Shah, MD — and alleges that the kickback scheme stretched back to at least 2001, according to the report.
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