CBI books WCL medical superintendent, Nagpur chemist in medical bill fraud case

New Delhi, Oct 8 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a corruption case against Dr Prithvi Krishna Patta, Medical Superintendent of the Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) Dispensary at Coal Estate, Civil Lines, Nagpur, and Kamlesh N. Lalwani, proprietor of M/s Sadguru Medical Stores, for their alleged involvement in a medical billing scam.

According to the FIR, Dr Patta and Lalwani allegedly colluded to prepare and submit fraudulent medical bills to the WCL Headquarters in Nagpur.

The CBI has accused the medical officer of generating false and inflated medical prescriptions that were later used by the private chemist to claim payments from WCL for medicines that were either overpriced or never actually dispensed.

Investigators further allege that Dr Patta manipulated prescriptions after issuance by adding costly medicines without patients’ knowledge, enabling the private pharmacy to raise inflated bills.

These forged documents were then forwarded to WCL’s headquarters, where payments were released based on the falsified claims.

“Based on these forged documents, inflated bills were submitted and paid to the private Medical Stores by the WCL Headquarters, Nagpur,” the CBI said in its press note.

According to the CBI, searches were carried out at multiple locations linked to both accused, including the WCL dispensary and the medical store premises.

“Searches have been conducted at multiple locations and an investigation is going on to unearth the scam within the medical services associated with WCL,” it said.

Both accused - Dr Prithvi Krishna Patta and Kamlesh N. Lalwani - have been arrested and are likely to be questioned to identify other possible officials or suppliers involved in the alleged scam.

The CBI is continuing its probe to assess the extent of financial losses caused to the public sector company and to trace any additional beneficiaries.

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