NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Glen Allen man pleaded guilty to posing as a doctor at a free clinic in Newport News, where he saw nearly two dozen patients.
According to allegations in the indictment, Vishal J. Patel, 31, used the personal identifying information of licensed physicians to pose as a doctor in online employment applications to medical staffing companies. Patel falsely claimed in such applications to be licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Virginia. To support this claim, Patel created and submitted false diplomas and certificates concerning his education, training, certifications, and licenses in which he included registration and licensing numbers belonging to various licensed physicians. To obtain access to their information, Patel posed as the physicians when contacting various oversight entities, including the Drug Enforcement Administration. Patel directed those entities to alter the physicians’ licensing records so that they appeared to be associated with Patel. He then directed these entities to mail him copies of the altered records. Through the scheme, Patel fraudulently induced various medical staffing companies to employ him as an independent contractor. Patel obtained employment through at least one company at a free clinic in Newport News, where he saw nearly two dozen patients before he was terminated due to the clinic’s inability to verify his credentials.
Patel pleaded guilty to furnishing false information in a DEA record and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum penalty of four years, along with a mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison, when sentenced on March 19, 2019.
