Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip,
Raymond R. Pellegrino, a chiropractor with offices in West Hempstead and
Hicksville, New York, was sentenced by United States District Judge Joanna
Seybert to 18 months’ imprisonment for committing health care fraud. The Court also ordered Pellegrino to forfeit
$504,444 and to pay restitution of $2,427,101.13 to Anthem Blue Cross/Blue
Shield (BC/BS).
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York, announced the sentence.
Between December 2013 and September 2014, Pellegrino used
the National Provider identification numbers of medical doctors who worked for
him on a part-time basis to submit fraudulent claims for medical services to
BC/BS. The claims falsely indicated that
osteopathic manipulation and other services had been provided to patients by the
doctors. As a result, Pellegrino received
more than $2.4 million in payments from BC/BS for services that he knew had not
been provided.
“Pellegrino abused his chiropractic license by manipulating
insurance claims instead of patients’ muscles, and now will pay the price for
stealing millions of dollars from an insurance company,” stated United States
Attorney Donoghue. Mr. Donoghue
expressed his grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New
York Field Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the New
York State Department of Financial Services for their assistance with the case.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’ Long
Island Criminal Division. Assistant
United States Attorneys Charles P. Kelly and Madeline O’Connor are in charge of
the prosecution.
The Defendant:
RAYMOND R. PELLEGRINO
Age: 50
McKinney, Texas,
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 18-CR-496 (JS)
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