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Darien Doctor Wanted For Running 'Pill Mill' In Norwalk Arrested In Canada

DARIEN, Conn. — A doctor from Darien wanted in connection with a "pill mill' ring that sold prescriptions for narcotic paiinkillers for cash and defrauded heathcare insurers was arrested after he fled into Canada, according to the Montreal Gazette.   

Dr. Ramil Mansourov of Darien

Dr. Ramil Mansourov of Darien

Photo Credit: Montreal Gazette screenshot

Dr. Ramil Mansourov, 47, who had offices in Norwalk, was arrested at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the Gazette said.

Mansourov had been sought since last week, after his colleague Dr. Bharat Patel, 70, was arrested on multiple federal charges July 12 at his home in Milford. 

Mansourov was in Maine when he heard of Patel’s arrest and headed north into New Brunswick by car, the Canadian Border Services Agency told the Gazette. 

He was arrested by CBSA on July 13 on airport property in Montreal, the Gazette said. 

The two doctors operated Family Urgent Health Care at 235 Main St. in Norwalk. In 2013, the Drug Enforcement Administration received information that the two were writing prescriptions for controlled substances "outside the scope of legitimate medical practice."

Related Story: Norwalk Doctors Charged with Operating 'Pill Mill,' Health Care Fraud

Patel regularly provided prescriptions for narcotics, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, to patients he knew were addicted or had been arrested on drug charges, according to U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly. 

Patel provided prescriptions to patients who paid him $100 in cash, and sometimes wrote prescriptions for people who were not his patients in exchange for cash, according to Daly. 

Sometimes if Patel was not available, Mansourov would provide his patients with unnecessary prescriptions. 

Some of these patients would pay to have the prescriptions filled using a state Medicaid card, and then would illegally distribute the drugs, according to the federal complaint. 

In 2014 alone, more than $50,000 in cash deposits were made to Patel and his wife's bank accounts, some of which was used to pay for Patel's home, according to Daly.

Between November 2013 and December 2016, Mansourov defrauded the state's Medicaid program of more than $4 million by billing for home visits he never made and appointments that never happened, according to the complaint. 

He moved some of the stolen funds into a bank account in Switzerland, according to the complaint.

The complaint charges Patel and Mansourov with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute narcotics, health care fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison. 

Click here for the story at the Montreal Gazette. 

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