A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on April 3, 2008, AJIT TRIKHA, age 55, of Town and Country, Missouri, was sentenced in federal district court, East St. Louis, Illinois, following his plea of guilty to an Indictment that charged him with two counts of Health Care Fraud. The violations took place from 2000 through 2005 in St. Clair County, Illinois. TRX HEALTH SYSTEMS PC was also sentenced on April 3, 2008, on one count of Mail Fraud.

AJIT TRIKHA was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, two years supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,755,754.11. TRX HEALTH SYSTEMS PC was sentenced to pay a $400 special assessment.

AJIT TRIKHA, a psychiatrist practicing at his business known as TRX HEALTH SYSTEMS PC located at 6915 West Main Street, Belleville, Illinois, executed a scheme to defraud the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs by submitting false claims and obtaining reimbursement by using false and fraudulent representations. AJIT TRIKHA and TRX HEALTH SYSTEMS PC billed Medicare and Medicaid for individual psychotherapy services, group psychotherapy, and pharmacologic management which he did not render. AJIT TRIKHA and TRX HEALTH SYSTEMS PC also billed individual psychotherapy services, group psychotherapy, and pharmacologic management when AJIT TRIKHA traveled outside of the United States.

The investigation was conducted by United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Illinois State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Quinley.