
Who is Tonmoy Sharma? The Indian-origin psychiatrist at the center of a $149-million US healthcare fraud
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Sharma's now-defunct company, Sovereign Health Group, enrolled patients in insurance plans without their consent, billed for unauthorized lab tests, and misrepresented financial information to exploit high out-of-network insurance rates. 'The founder and former CEO…was arrested…alleging he submitted more than $149 million in fraudulent claims…and paid more than $21 million in illegal kickbacks,' the federal statement said.
Who is Tonmoy Sharma?
Tonmoy Sharma was born in Guwahati, Assam, and is the eldest son of the late Phani Sharma, a well-known sports organiser and owner of several cultural landmarks in Assam, including the Anuradha, Rupayan, and Anupama cinema halls. Raised in an intellectually vibrant and affluent household, Sharma's path was marked by academic success and early medical ambition. He earned his MBBS degree from Dibrugarh Medical College in 1987 and interned at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.
He soon took his expertise abroad, obtaining a medical license from the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom in 1988. Sharma went on to specialize in psychiatry and made his mark in research, particularly in the areas of brain function, cognition, and behavioral studies in mental illnesses. However, several reports also suggest that his medical license was revoked in the UK in 2008 for dishonest and unprofessional conduct.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
His work brought him to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen and eventually founded Sovereign Health Group—a company that, for a time, was considered a pioneer in dual-diagnosis addiction treatment.
In addition to his clinical work, Sharma is also an author. His books, listed on Amazon, cover Schizophrenia and mental health in detail. He has also authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles.
Regarding his wife and family, there is no publicly available information about Tonmoy Sharma's marital status, wife, or immediate family members, such as children or siblings, beyond his late father.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Time of India
How an auto giant trapped global investors in an INR1,000 crore heist
The Dhams of the Amtek Auto not just duped Indian banks of more than INR33,000 crore but trapped scores of global investors in a bewildering 'pump and dump' stock price manipulation game that bruised institutional and laymen investors alike. In what could help solve a 10-year-old securities market manipulation complaint, ED has traced back a money trail. The probe unearthed how funds worth at least INR100 crore loaned by public sector banks were


Economic Times
37 minutes ago
- Economic Times
How an auto giant trapped global investors in an INR1,000 crore heist
The Dhams of the Amtek Auto not just duped Indian banks of more than INR33,000 crore but trapped scores of global investors in a bewildering 'pump and dump' stock price manipulation game that bruised institutional and laymen investors alike. In what could help solve a 10-year-old securities market manipulation complaint, ED has traced back a money trail. The probe unearthed how funds worth at least INR100 crore loaned by public sector banks were


Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
US policy on India is confusing; Trump an aberrational president: Ex-NSA John Bolton
Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton criticised Washington's 'confused' policy on India, questioning the 25% penalty on India for purchasing Russian energy while China faces no sanctions. In an interview with HT, Bolton acknowledged that the India-US relationship is for the time being in 'a very bad place' and believes Trump is an 'aberrational president' as he stressed on the need for efforts to limit damage to bilateral ties for the US President's remaining term. Former US national security adviser John Bolton speaks at a panel hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran – US Representative Office (NCRI-US) at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, DC, on August 17, 2022. (Getty Images) Q. Former ambassador Bolton, just a couple of months ago, India was a close strategic ally of the United States. Now things seem to have changed entirely—a 180-degree turn. As President Trump's former National Security Advisor, can you channel some of his thinking on India? A. Well, I think it's unfortunately very confused. The first level of concern is the tariffs that emerged out of the so-called Liberation Day tariffs in April, where Indian negotiators were working to try and get a mutually satisfactory arrangement, and Trump kind of pulled the plug without warning and said the tariffs would be at 25%. The second matter is the 25% addition to that tariff because of purchases of Russian oil and gas. It turns out that Russia has not faced any new sanctions. China has not faced any new sanctions, notwithstanding the fact that they were the major purchasers of Russian oil and gas. India has been singled out. I wish India didn't buy oil and gas from Russia, because I think it's in the interest of India as well as the United States to recognise the threat posed by China, the growing axis between China and Russia, and the threat that poses globally. Leaving India hanging out to dry as the only country to which punitive action has been taken obviously leads a lot of people to conclude that the United States has given up on India, and I do worry that India is being driven closer to Russia and China. It's just part of the aberrational Trump presidency. But it's a very bad place for the relationship at the moment. Q. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has come down hard on India for buying Russian energy. India has pushed back defending its position. Can you speak to that criticism? A. Secretary Bessent isn't very experienced in international affairs, and I don't think he sees the growing axis between China and Russia. The complaint is that India took some of the gasoline it was buying from Russia, perhaps refined it and sold it internationally. That's a complaint worth discussing. But the sanctions as written do not preclude anyone, including India, from buying Russian oil at the capped price, or below $60/barrel, and then selling it elsewhere. If that's the complaint, the complaint lies with the sanctions, not so much with India's behaviour. What India did isn't prohibited. Q. There are many in India questioning whether trust in the US has been strained beyond repair after the last few months. What would you say to them? A. Unfortunately, what Trump has done on tariffs is destroying decades of effort with India and many others to build up good faith and reliance, and it will take time to repair that. But here's what's important: Trump is aberrational. I don't know any other Republican or Democrat who ran for president who if elected would behave anything like this. Trump doesn't have a philosophy, so there's no legacy for his successors. Our objective should be to keep the damage to the relationship at a minimum, and then think about how to repair it quickly thereafter. When Trump leaves, he'll take almost the bulk of this history with him. Q. Regarding China, we've seen President Trump and his team push for a deal with the Chinese, but policy seems confused at times. What is Trump's China policy? A. It's confused. In the first term, Trump wanted the biggest trade deal in history with China. Deadlines for tariffs on China have already been extended 180 days. China hasn't faced secondary sanctions on its purchase of Russian oil and gas. If you want a trade war, we should have teamed up and had a trade war with China, because they're the worst actor in international economics. They steal intellectual property, subsidise companies, don't open their market even when they claim to. It's hard to explain why he gives China this much leeway. Q. Lastly, what do you see happening going forward? Are you optimistic that India and the US could return to normalcy? A. I think a couple things will need to happen. We need continued conversations between non-governmental Indians and Americans, so people see that what's happening at the top isn't reflective of what the whole country thinks. Modi should wait for the right moment, perhaps at the UN General Assembly in New York in September, to meet Trump one-on-one and clear the air. Before the tariff problem, Trump and Modi had a good personal relationship, which is central to Trump's view of state-to-state relations. That asset remains, and if deployed effectively, could be a step toward recovery.