Darren J. LaMarca, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, announced this week that Manpreet Kamboj and Gurdev Kamboj (aka David Singh) have agreed to pay $130,000 to resolve allegations that they knowingly falsified income to unlawfully create eligibility for Mississippi Medicaid health care benefits for their dependents.
The Medicaid Program is a state and federally funded health benefit program intended to assist low-income individuals and families. The Mississippi Division of Medicaid (MDOM) is the single state agency responsible for administering health care benefits for eligible, low-income individuals in Mississippi.
Despite Medicaid’s low-income requirement, the United States contends that Manpreet Kamboj and Gurdev Kamboj collectively owned and/or were associated with 48 convenience store/gas stations located in Mississippi and Louisiana. The Kambojs also own a five-bedroom 7,850 square foot home located in Madison, Mississippi, most recently valued at 1.3 million dollars.
State Auditor Shad White said he announced his finding on this issue last year and is glad to see authorities charge those involved and will watch as it is prosecuted by the federal government.
“Last year, we released an audit that compared the income people claimed when they applied to be on Medicaid versus what they made according to their state income tax return,” said Auditor White. “I pointed out at the time that there were ‘two individuals who own multi-million dollar homes and declared high incomes on their most recent tax returns, but also receive Medicaid benefits.
“The ACLU and other groups called me and my team every name in the book for this audit,” White said in a statement released Friday. “When I personally told the head of the ACLU about people lying to get on Medicaid, he said ‘That’s not happening.’
“They fought me when I wanted access to state income tax returns,” White continued. “The Southern Poverty Law Center said I was ‘misleading’ people. The Mississippi Center for Justice said Medicaid was working just fine.”
Yesterday, federal prosecutors announced two Mississippians — who ‘own a five-bedroom 7,850-square-foot home located in Madison, most recently valued at $1.3 million dollars’ — are being forced to repay $130,000 to Medicaid.
The prosecutors say they ‘falsely represented’ their income and that they own or are associated with 48 convenience stores.
“This, of course, shows that my team’s work was valid and that the groups who criticized our work were wrong,” White added.
According to the United States, the Kambojs falsely represented on various Mississippi Medicaid health care benefit applications and renewals that one of them was unemployed and that the household derived income from one convenience store/gas station. As such, the United States alleges that from Aug. 29, 2011, to Feb. 28, 2022, the Kambojs caused the MDOM to pay over $70,000 in health care coverage benefits to which they were not entitled.
“The Medicaid Program is intended to provide access to quality health coverage for vulnerable Mississippians,” said U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca. “Our office will continue to pursue those individuals who unlawfully deplete valuable resources allocated for Medicaid eligible individuals and families.”
The False Claims Act claims settled are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.
“I don’t expect an apology to my auditors from these groups,” said White. “The groups would never let the facts get in the way of their narrative. But I do want taxpayers to know we’re watching, and we will not be bullied by these groups.
“The purpose of our audit was to ensure only the people who are actually eligible for Medicaid are allowed to be on Medicaid, and we will keep doing that work,” said White. “The Auditor’s office does not have the authority to prosecute its own cases, so I’m grateful to the federal prosecutors who are pursuing cases like this.”
