Vishal J. Patel
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A man pleaded guilty Monday to posing as a doctor at a free clinic in Newport News.
He saw nearly two dozen patients at the clinic.
Court documents said 31-year-old Vishal Patel used the personal information of licensed physicians to pose as a doctor in online employment applications to medical staffing companies.
Patel falsely claimed to be licensed to practice medicine in Virginia. To support this claim, court documents said 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 get other information, Patel posed as the physicians when contacting agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Patel told agencies to alter the physicians’ licensing records so that they appeared to be associated with Patel. He then said to mail him copies of the altered records.
Through the scheme, officials said 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 fired because the clinic couldn’t verify his credentials.
Patel pleaded guilty to furnishing false information in a DEA record and aggravated identity theft on Monday.
