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Morris Barnard, age 59, of Great Neck, was sentenced to 2 ½ years behind bars in federal court in Central Islip on Thursday, Jan. 5. It followed his March 2022 guilty plea to healthcare fraud.
Prosecutors said between October 2015 and February 2020, Barnard, a gastroenterologist practicing in Great Neck, submitted over $3 million in billings to Medicare for colonoscopy and other procedures that were never actually performed.
Most of the billings indicated that the services were provided to disabled beneficiaries who were living in residential group homes at the time.
In total, Medicare reimbursed approximately $1.4 million of the false claims, according to prosecutors. Barnard was ordered to pay that amount back in restitution to Medicare.
“The defendant was not entitled to one penny of the $1.4 million in precious public health care funds that he pocketed and will now have to pay back as part of his sentence,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
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