A Stratford doctor was sentenced to four years in federal prison for health care fraud and illegal kickback offenses.

According to court documents, 45-year-old Dr. Ananthakumar Thillainathan, is the owner and president of MDCareNow.

Documents say that between June 2019 and May 2022, Thillainathan submitted over $839,000 in fraudulent claims for psychotherapy services he knew patients did not receive from his employees.

Thillainathan also submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid for reimbursement that falsely represented his employees had 60-minute psychotherapy sessions when they had little to no contact with patients.

Officials say he also paid for a patient recruiting company, which is not allowed.