NEW JERSEY (1010 WINS) — A New Jersey doctor had her medical license revoked after she was sentenced to over two years in prison for hosting undocumented women in her home and underpaying them as "household servants," the state attorney general's office announced on Tuesday.
Dr. Harsha Sahni pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to conceal and harbor aliens and filing a false tax return last February and is scheduled to begin serving a 27-month prison sentence soon.
She previously maintained a rheumatology practice in Colonia, but has been suspended from the medical field since September 2023 as the state pursued a license revocation following her criminal plea.
"The revocation announced today brings closure to a disturbing case in which a physician sworn to uphold the highest standards of care and compassion exploited and abused vulnerable victims for her own financial gain," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. "There is no place in the medical profession for this kind of criminal conduct and utter disregard for humanity."
In her guilty plea Sahni admitted to harboring two women from India—who were in the country illegally—in her home. She led them to believe that they would be arrested and deported if they interacted with law enforcement.
Sahni provided the women with food and clothing and kept them working as housekeepers with pay significantly less than she would legally be required to pay a properly-hired cleaner.
Verified Complaint: Harsha Sahni by erin.white on Scribd
According to the verified complaint filed with the State Board of Medical Examiners by Deputy Attorney General Kate Calendar, one of the victims worked from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for about $240 to $600 a month, which Sahni paid directly to the woman's family in India.
Calendar also alleges that Sahni defrauded multiple entitites into providing free and reduced-cost medical care to one of the victims, and threatened the victims' health by keeping them from proper treatment.
In one instance, Sahni scammed a domestic violence charity into providing one woman with dental care after completing a falsified charity application form for the victim, knowing she did not speak, read or write English. Sahni signed the form as a medical professional and claimed she believed the victim's dental issues to be a result of domestic violence.
Sahni is also accused of preventing the same woman from receiving treatment for a life-threatening brain aneurysm. When the woman began suffering from headaches after a car accident in 2014, Sahni told her she was not allowed to rest, to take a Tylenol and complete her work. Sahni continued treating the woman with Tylenol until 2021, at which point the headaches became so debilitating that the woman was unable to complete her daily tasks.
Sahni's former practice in Colonia, New Jersey.Google Street View
The victim was finally brought to a hospital in 2021 and Sahni posed as her sister and translator, the verified complaint alleges. Emergency room doctors said that immediate surgery was needed for the aneurysm and that failure to do so could lead to the victim's death.
"The State alleged that even with her medical knowledge and sworn Hippocratic oath, Sahni put her own needs before a medically compromised person by encouraging [the victim] to leave the hospital against medical advice," the attorney general's office said. "Once home, Sahni allegedly required Victim 1 to work the rest of the evening, completing her regular tasks."
Following her prison term, Sahni is sentenced to two years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $728,327 and up to $200,000 for specific medical bills.
"Sahni's treatment of the women she illegally harbored as cheap labor for her and her family violated the most basic rules of the medical profession and caused her victims unimaginable suffering," director of the Division of Consumer Affairs Cari Fais saod. "Only the permanent revocation of her medical license could adequately protect New Jersey and its residents from the dangers she posed as a practicing physician."
