The government accused him performing unnecessary procedures and filing false claims.

TAMPA -- A Sarasota doctor has agreed to pay nearly $2 million to settle accusations that he defrauded Medicare by performing unnecessary ultrasound tests.

According to the Department of Justice, Dr. Arthur S. Portnow, the owner and operator of Arthur S. Portnow, P.A., Apple Medical and Cardiovascular Group and Apple Medical Group, will pay $1.95 million. The government accused Portnow of submitting fraudulent Medicare claims from August 2009 to August 2017 and performing medically unnecessary carotid ultrasounds, lower extremity arterial ultrasounds, abdominal aortic ultrasounds, renal and renal artery ultrasounds, and echocardiograms. Portnow was also accused of falsifying patient records in an effort to justify those unnecessary ultrasounds. Portnow and his practice received hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability, the Department of Justice says.

"Physicians who seek to boost their profits by charging taxpayers and patients for medically unnecessary tests will be thoroughly investigated," said Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General. "Working in coordination with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to pursue health care professionals who threaten the integrity of federal health care programs."

Portnow has also agreed to enter into an integrity agreement with the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The case stemmed from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by one of Portnow's former employees, Kathleen Siwicki, who will receive about $350,000 of the proceeds as a reward.

Tips from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).