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The United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York announced that Anna Steiner, 63, Denny Martin, 46, Andrew Barrett, 60, Phyllis Pincus, 58, and Kevin McMahon, 31, have been charged for defrauding the Medicare and Medicaid programs by overbilling them by millions of dollars.
It is alleged that Steiner, a licensed anesthesiologist from Valatie in Columbia County, New York, was involved in a $17.4 million scheme related to the payments of kickbacks in return for prescribing and ordering durable medical equipment, prescription drugs and diagnostic tests that were neither medically necessary nor resulted from an examination by or consultation with a physician.
Steiner was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud.
Martin, a Manhattan resident, is a licensed neurologist who was the sole owner of AM PM Medical P.C. It is alleged that between 2015 and 2019, his practice submitted more than 3,000 in fraudulent claims for home health and podiatry visits to the Medicare program. He’s been charged with health care fraud.
Barrett and Pincus, residents of New City in Rockland County, were indicted for health care fraud, false claims and conspiracy to defraud the United States by submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid. Barrett has a previous fraud conviction and was excluded from both programs. Pincus is the sole proprietor of two pharmacies in New York.
McMahon, a registered nurse from Seaford in Nassau County, pleaded guilty at Central Islip Court, admitting that he stole synthetic opioid fentanyl while he was an employee at the Nassau University Medical Center.
“Physicians and other medical professionals who fraudulently bill our federal health care programs are stealing from taxpayers and robbing vulnerable patients of necessary medical care. The medical professionals and others engaging in criminal behavior by peddling opioids for profit continue to fuel our nation’s drug crisis,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said.
The charges filed in federal court in Brooklyn and Central Islip are part of a coordinated health care fraud enforcement action across seven federal districts in the northeast United States, led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, that resulted in criminal charges against 48 people for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving more than $800 million in false and fraudulent claims.
U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue added, “as alleged, defendants charged in the Eastern District of New York used fraud and deceit to steal Medicaid and Medicare funds meant to protect our elderly and most vulnerable residents.”
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