Take 1.2 Million of These and Call Me in the Morning

Dr. Sanjay Kumar, whose medical practice in North Carolina treated patients with chronic pain, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for tax evasion, money laundering and unlawful distribution of opioids.

When Kumar found himself on the brink of financial ruin after Blue Cross terminated his contract due to billing irregularities, he fired his entire staff and became a one-man prescription machine. His new office hours were late afternoon and evening, and he only saw “patients” who paid him $200 cash for a monthly prescription for opioids. Dr. Kumar went from writing 100 prescriptions for controlled substances in 2011 to prescribing more than 1.2 million oxycodone pills alone between 2013 and 2016.

Kumar deposited the cash in multiple bank accounts, always making sure the deposits were under the minimum amount to trigger reporting to the Department of the Treasury. He spent over $175,000 on four cars, $70,000 at Best Buy, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases from Amazon.

At his arrest Kumar had $145,000 cash with him and another $450,000 was discovered in his home. Police also found 35 firearms and more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition.