A Brooklyn-based cardiologist has been sentenced to just over three years in federal prison for orchestrating a long-running healthcare fraud and bribery scheme involving unnecessary procedures and illegal kickbacks.

Niranjan Mittal, 72, was sentenced to 37 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams on Thursday, following his February guilty plea to a single count of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. In addition to the prison term, Mittal was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit proceeds linked to the scheme.

According to court records, Mittal operated a clinic in Brooklyn that catered largely to lower-income patients covered by government health programs. From at least 2016 through 2023, Mittal paid other providers under the guise of office space leases, which federal investigators say were structured to conceal referral kickbacks. In exchange, those providers referred patients to Mittal’s clinic, often without the patients fully understanding the purpose of their referral.
At the clinic, patients underwent a series of diagnostic tests and follow-up appointments that were frequently unrelated to their actual medical needs. Federal prosecutors said these visits were used to justify peripheral vascular procedures — interventions designed to treat blood vessel blockages in the legs — which were largely unnecessary. In some cases, patients underwent ten or more such procedures over several years, with little or no clinical improvement.

Mittal also directed clinic staff to falsify medical records, including fabricating symptoms in visit notes, to support the billing of these procedures. Prosecutors said the fraudulent activity resulted in more than $40 million in payments to Mittal’s practice from insurers over a seven-year span.

“Mittal abused that trust, turning his offices into ‘patient mills’ and subjecting trusting patients to procedures they did not need,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in a statement. “Today’s sentence sends a deterrent message... if you abuse patient trust for profit, you will face justice.”

The investigation was led by HHS-OIG, IRS-Criminal Investigations, and Homeland Security Investigations.

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