AMAR NATH BHANDARY

PRESS RELEASE
Oklahoma City Psychiatrist To Serve 30 Months In Federal Prison And Pay $20,000 Fine For Health Care Fraud
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma –AMAR NATH BHANDARY, M.D., 53, from Edmond, Oklahoma, was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison by United States District Judge Joe Heaton for health care fraud, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. Following his release from prison, Judge Heaton ordered Dr. Bhandary to serve three years supervised release and pay a $20,000 fine.

Dr. Bhandary was licensed to practice medicine in Oklahoma and was engaged in the practice of psychiatry. In March of 2012, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in a 53-count indictment alleging illegal distribution of controlled substances. The indictment alleged that Dr. Bhandary dispensed various controlled drugs to eight separate individuals outside the course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose in 2008 and 2009 and that his actions resulted in the death of five of those individuals from drug toxicity.

From April 15 – 24, 2013, a jury trial was held in Oklahoma City federal court. On April 24, the Court declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

On May 22, 2013, a one-count Superseding Information was filed alleging that from September 10, 2008, through October 8, 2008, Dr. Bhandary engaged in health care fraud by submitting false claims to Medicare for services that he had not provided. On May 28, 2013, Dr. Bhandary pled guilty to committing health care fraud.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Heaton ordered that Dr. Bhandary serve 30 months in prison, serve three years of supervised release upon his release from prison, pay $20,000 fine, pay restitution to Medicare, and forfeit all interest in commercial property located at 7100 N. Classen Blvd., Suites 107, 111 and 115, in Oklahoma City.

These charges are the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Norman Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Petermann and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Sengel.