There are many Ann Arbor residents who make the pilgrimage west in order to enjoy the famous skyline, blues music or to sample the local cuisine that includes deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches and legendary hot dogs. We’re referring to Chicago, of course.
A psychologist there is facing the possibility that she will be denied the pleasures of her hometown if she is convicted of health care fraud. She is accused of submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare and health insurance companies in a scheme that prosecutors allege lasted for years.
The North Shore doctor allegedly filed the false claims to Medicare and insurers from 2011 until earlier this year, billing them for mental health services that were not provided to patients.
Following an investigation by the FBI, the 66-year-old was indicted on 5 counts of health care fraud and 3 counts of aggravated identity theft, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In court documents, prosecutors claim she used three patients’ names and birth dates to generate fraudulent claims that made it appear that she had provided them services from late 2015 to early 2018. They claim the psychologist was not in Illinois on some of the dates on which she claimed to have seen the patients.
If convicted, she faces a potential prison sentence of 10 years on each fraud count. The aggravated ID theft includes a mandatory 2-year sentence to be served consecutively to any sentence for an underlying offense.
The stakes cannot be higher in cases like these, not only is freedom on the line, but so too are careers, reputations, professional licenses and more. If you face similar accusations, contact a white collar defense attorney to discuss your legal options.
