Fraudulent Billings Total Approximately $2.5 Million

An indictment was unsealed this morning charging two Long Island physical therapists and a licensed massage therapist with health care fraud involving $2.5 million in fraudulent medical insurance claims which they filed with dozens of private insurance companies and Medicare.¹ KIERAN DENEEN, NICHOLAS POSILLICO, the physical therapists, and ROBERT T. MAURER, JR., the massage therapist, are scheduled to be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge William Wall at the U.S. Courthouse, Central Islip, New York.

The charges were announced by Roslynn R. Mauskopf, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Mark J. Mershon, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.

According to the indictment, DENEEN, POSILLICO, and MAURER operated Bay Shore Physical Therapy P.L.L.C. (“BSPT”) and Patchogue Physical Therapy P.C. (“PPT”) and submitted fraudulent medical insurance claims through a private billing company located in Nassau County. The claims were for a procedure known as “manual therapy,” as well as other physical therapy services, which, in fact, were never provided to their patients. The indictment also charges that the defendants submitted fraudulent medical insurance claims for physical therapy services purportedly provided by DENEEN that were actually provided by MAURER. In addition, DENEEN is charged with obstructing the government’s investigation by concealing billing and treatment records that were the subject of subpoenas issued to BSPT and PPT.

“The millions of dollars of fraudulent insurance and Medicare claims not only illegally enriched the defendants but saddled the insurance companies with unnecessary losses and defrauded the Medicare program of funds that should have gone to pay the health care costs of low-income New Yorkers,” stated United States Attorney Mauskopf. Ms. Mauskopf added that the investigation is continuing.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Mershon stated, “Last year, nationwide health care expenditures exceeded two trillion dollars, with fraudulent billings estimated at between three and ten percent. In other words, between sixty and two hundred billion dollars. The monetary impact of health care fraud is staggering. That’s why the FBI is committed to the cure and prevention of this epidemic.”

If convicted, POSILLICO and MAURER each face a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $5 million fine, and forfeiture of $2.5 million. DENEEN faces a maximum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment, a $5 million dollar fine, and a forfeiture of $2.5 million.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charles P. Kelly.

 The Defendants:

 KIERAN DENEEN
Age: 35

 NICHOLAS POSILLICO
Age: 34

 ROBERT T. MAURER
Age: 35

 

 

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¹The charges are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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