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Health Insurance Fraud

Stamford Woman Swindled $300K From State Medicaid Over 2 Years: Police Stamford Woman Swindled $300K From State Medicaid Over 2 Years: Police
Stamford Woman Swindled $300K From State Medicaid Over 2 Years: Police A 59-year-old Connecticut woman faces decades in prison after state investigators claim she stole more than $300,000 from Medicaid by submitting false claims and changing patient's medical records.  Iselande Desyr, of Stamford in Fairfield County, is charged with one count each of health insurance fraud and larceny in the first degree by defrauding the public community, the state's Division of Criminal Justice said.  Desyr was the owner of Holistic Psychiatric Services, LLC, which claims to treat a variety of disorders in children and adults with holistic means on its website…
New Canaan Counselor Ripped Off Medicaid For $80K, Officials Say New Canaan Counselor Ripped Off Medicaid For $80K, Officials Say
New Canaan Counselor Ripped Off Medicaid For $80K, Officials Say A Fairfield County counselor with a business in Stamford defrauded Medicaid by billing thousands in fraudulent claims for services he did not provide. According to state judicial officials, Andrew R. Golden, age 56, of New Canaan, was sentenced to three years in prison, which was suspended, and five years of conditional discharge.  The judge ordered Golden to pay $80,328.19 in restitution and to not act as a Medicaid provider or provide services to any Medicaid recipient. Golden has paid the restitution, said officials with the state Division of Criminal Justice,  The division sa…
New Canaan Man Accused Of Ripping Off Medicaid For $80K New Canaan Man Accused Of Ripping Off Medicaid For $80K
New Canaan Man Accused Of Ripping Off Medicaid For $80K A Fairfield County man was charged with allegedly submitting fraudulent claims to the government for services that were not rendered. Andrew R. Golden, age 55, of New Canaan, was arrested Monday, Dec. 18, by inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney. He was charged with larceny by defrauding a public community and health insurance fraud. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Golden is a licensed professional counselor, listed as an individual practitioner and owner of a Stamford practice.  Between January 2020 and July 2022, Gold…
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron Resigns Amid Fraud Indictment Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron Resigns Amid Fraud Indictment
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron Resigns Amid Fraud Indictment Pete Byron has resigned. The Wildwood mayor, who had been the focus of state and federal investigations into health insurance fraud and tax evasion, quit suddenly, effective Thursday, Sept. 21, his office said in a press statement. Less than a week after pleading guilty to federal tax evasion last March, Byron was indicted by a state grand jury — along with two other elected officials — in an alleged health insurance scam, Daily Voice reported. Byron was sentenced to probation in August on the federal tax charge and faces a state indictment for allegations he submitted false records t…
Medicaid Fraud: CT Health Practice Charged For Services Provided By Unlicensed People, Feds Say Medicaid Fraud: CT Health Practice Charged For Services Provided By Unlicensed People, Feds Say
Medicaid Fraud: CT Health Practice Charged For Services Provided By Unlicensed People, Feds Say A Connecticut behavioral health practice based in New Haven County defrauded the state's Medicaid program by knowingly billing it for services performed by unlicensed individuals, officials said.  Hamden-based practice K-Assist, owned by Kelly Stutzman, entered into a more than $234,000 civil settlement agreement with both the federal and Connecticut state government to resolve allegations that the practice violated federal and state False Claims Acts, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced on Tuesday, April 18.  According to federal officials…
Newtown Psychologist Admits To $79K Medicaid Fraud Newtown Psychologist Admits To $79K Medicaid Fraud
Newtown Psychologist Admits To $79K Medicaid Fraud A Newtown psychologist and advanced registered nurse pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid by billing the government health insurance program for thousands of dollars. Jeannie Pasacreta, age 66, of Newtown, pleaded guilty Wednesday, March 29, to one count of health insurance fraud. In addition, she was ordered to pay $79,418.77 in restitution. An investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney determined that over a two-year period beginning in 2016, Pasacreta, through her firm Mental Health Services, billed Medicaid for hundreds of claims for se…
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Indicted In Health Benefits Scam Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Indicted In Health Benefits Scam
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Indicted In Health Benefits Scam UPDATE: Less than a week after pleading guilty to federal tax evasion, Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron was indicted by a state grand jury along with two other elected officials in an alleged health insurance scam. Byron, former Mayor Ernest Troiano Jr., and current City Commissioner Steve Mikulski fraudulently participated in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), the indictment alleges. In order to be eligible for the benefits, they needed to be full-time employees “whose hours of work are fixed at 35 or more per week” in their elected positions, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin ex…
Lab Operators In Bergen, Morris Defrauded Government Out Of $3.5M For COVID Tests: Feds Lab Operators In Bergen, Morris Defrauded Government Out Of $3.5M For COVID Tests: Feds
Lab Operators In Bergen, Morris Defrauded Government Out Of $3.5M For COVID Tests: Feds Two business partners from Bergen and Morris counties operated a clinical lab that defrauded government health insurance programs out of an estimated $3.5 million for COVID testing, federal authorities charged. Tariq Din, 55, of Saddle River, and Abid Syed, 45, of East Hanover, paid kickbacks to "marketers" for referrals to their Metpath Laboratories in Parsippany, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Two of the accused marketers, Muhammed Aurangzeb, 45, of Robbinsville, and David Weathers, 59, of the Bronx, received $5 to $30 per referral from Metpath, the U.S. attorney said. Weathers …
Feds Charge Clifton Doc With Randomly Doling Out Large Doses Of Oxy, Xanax, More Feds Charge Clifton Doc With Randomly Doling Out Large Doses Of Oxy, Xanax, More
Feds Charge Clifton Doc With Randomly Doling Out Large Doses Of Oxy, Xanax, More A Clifton orthopedic surgeon was charged by federal authorities with prescribing high doses of addictive opioid painkillers to patients who abused, sold or otherwise didn't need them. Evangelos Megariotis, 68, prescribed Oxycodone, Xanax, cough syrup with codeine and stimulants “outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Megariotis, who owned and operated Clifton Orthopedic Associates, already has been banned by the state from ever again practicing medicine or prescribing drugs in New Jersey. State au…
NJ Transit Conductors, Wife Arrested In Telemedicine Fraud Scheme NJ Transit Conductors, Wife Arrested In Telemedicine Fraud Scheme
NJ Transit Conductors, Wife Arrested In Telemedicine Fraud Scheme Two NJ Transit conductors were among three people arrested in a fraud scheme in which they recruited employees to get doctors to write various prescriptions, costing the insurance company more than $800,000, authorities said. David A. Rasmussen, 55, Raymond Giovanne, 33, and Suzanne Rasmussen, 52 -- David's wife -- participated in a scheme to defraud NJ State Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which provides health insurance coverage to state employees, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office announced July 29. David Rasmussen is the delegate recommended by the union to serve as a member of the NJ T…
Chiropractor From Long Island Charged For Years-Long Fraud Scheme, Feds Say Chiropractor From Long Island Charged For Years-Long Fraud Scheme, Feds Say
Chiropractor From Long Island Charged For Years-Long Fraud Scheme, Feds Say A Long Island chiropractor has been arrested for allegedly filing numerous fraudulent health insurance claims for her chiropractic services. Nassau County resident Melissa Panayiota Kanes, age 50, of New Hyde Park, was arrested on Tuesday, March 16, and charged with health care fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to submit more than $800,000 in fraudulent health care claims, said Audrey Strauss, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In addition, authorities say Kane also used the identities of three per diem chiropractors when su…
CT Woman Accused Of $1.9M Fraud Scheme CT Woman Accused Of $1.9M Fraud Scheme
CT Woman Accused Of $1.9M Fraud Scheme A Connecticut woman has been arrested and charged for her role in an alleged near $2 million Medicaid health insurance scheme, officials announced. Litchfield County resident Catherine Risigo-Wickline, of Watertown, the owner of Therapy Unlimited was arrested by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney on Tuesday, March 9 for allegedly billing Medicaid for treatment that patients never received. Specifically, Risigo-Wickline, 55, was charged with larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud, and two c…
Jersey Shore 'Patient Broker' Gets 13 Months For Bribing Drug Users Into Out-Of-State Rehab Jersey Shore 'Patient Broker' Gets 13 Months For Bribing Drug Users Into Out-Of-State Rehab
Jersey Shore 'Patient Broker' Gets 13 Months For Bribing Drug Users Into Out-Of-State Rehab A Jersey Shore man was sentenced today to 13 months in federal prison for bribing drug addicts to enroll in rehab centers as far away as California in order to collect kickbacks for himself. Peter J. Costas, 27, of Red Bank, took a deal from the government rather than go to trial, pleading guilty via teleconference with a federal judge in Newark this past May to conspiring to commit health care fraud in exchange for the sentence. He’ll have to serve just about all of his sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Costas paid some addicts several thousand dollars to us…
Special-Needs/Weed CEO Is Accused Of Stealing $50,000 From Taxpayers Special-Needs/Weed CEO Is Accused Of Stealing $50,000 From Taxpayers
Special-Needs/Weed CEO Is Accused Of Stealing $50,000 From Taxpayers A marijuana entrepreneur who owns a Connecticut vocational center for people with special needs is facing fraud charges. Karen Gaston, 39, of East Granby, was charged in Connecticut on Tuesday, Sept. 22 with larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud, and criminal attempt to commit larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, according to Connecticut’s Division of Criminal Justice. Gaston is the owner of Elegant Clinical Corporation in East Windsor, a nonprofit that seeks to provide vocational education to people with special needs…
Greenwich Police Officer Accused Of Ripping Off $57K From Medicaid Greenwich Police Officer Accused Of Ripping Off $57K From Medicaid
Greenwich Police Officer Accused Of Ripping Off $57K From Medicaid A Greenwich police officer has been placed on administrative leave after the department learned he was part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Officer Michael Mastronardi, who has been with the department for 18 years, was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this week after the Department was notified by the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney of an ongoing criminal investigation involving him, said Greenwich Police Lt. John Slusarz.  Mastronardi, of Shelton, was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 7, on charges of larceny and health insurance fraud, according to the state Division…
Home Health Aide Stole $1,450 From Victim In Area, Police Say Home Health Aide Stole $1,450 From Victim In Area, Police Say
Home Health Aide Stole $1,450 From Victim In Area, Police Say A home health aide is facing charges after she allegedly stole $1,450 from a local victim, police say. New York State Police received a complaint of possible fraud involving 34-year-old Shamecca M. Allah, a home health care aide for Community Home Health Care in Poughkeepsie, on Friday, March 15. Upon further investigation, police determined that Allah, a Poughkeepsie resident, fraudulently charged the victim for services totaling $1,450 while simultaneously submitting hours to Community Home Health Care in an attempt to bill the victim’s health insurance carrier for the same services.…