Wayland Woman Sentenced for Role in Physical Therapy Clinic Fraud Scheme

BOSTON – A Wayland woman was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for her role in a scheme to defraud multiple insurance providers for physical therapy services that were not provided to patients.  

Anna Barenboym, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to one year of probation with one month of home confinement. Barenboym was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $648,852. In March 2022, Barenboym pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Barenboym was indicted in February 2021 along with co-defendants Gyulnara Bayryshova, Slava Pride and Raya Bagardi.

Barenboym was a licensed physical therapist employed at Brighton Physical Therapy (BPT), a physical therapy clinic owned by Bayryshova. Pride and Bagardi were also employed at BPT as licensed physical therapist assistants. From October 2018 through June 2020, Barenboym and her co-defendants conspired to cause an insurance company to reimburse them for physical therapy services that were not actually provided and/or were not medically necessary and, in some cases, were provided by individuals not licensed to provide the services. Specifically, Barenboym and her co-defendants falsely billed for services purportedly rendered to patients injured in automobile accidents when the services were not actually provided. BPT paid patients for referrals, referred patients to attorneys to assist with patients’ insurance settlements and accepted kickbacks from those attorneys in return. 

On July 12, 2023, Pride was sentenced to two years in prison, two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution of over $2.3 million. On July 19, 2023, Bagardi was sentenced to two years of supervised release, with the first year to be spent in home confinement and was also ordered to pay restitution of over $2.3 million. On July 26, 2023, Bayryshova was sentenced to three years in prison and two years of supervised release. Bayryshova was also ordered to pay restitution of $7,383,756 and forfeiture of $7,834.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Anthony DiPaolo, Chief of Investigations of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; and Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura J. Kaplan of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit prosecuted the case.