A significant health care fraud case has concluded with Junyi Liu, also known as "Jenny," a licensed acupuncturist, entering a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In a statement by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Matthew Podolsky, Liu was said to have orchestrated a fraudulent billing operation for unnecessary or non-existent acupuncture and physical therapy services, scamming insurers out of $23 million. This announcement comes after she appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain to submit her plea.
As reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, between 2018 and 2021, Liu operated medical offices across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens where fraudulent insurance claims were submitted by her and her partners. The sophisticated scheme involved paying kickbacks, including cash and expensive wine, to both insurance provider employees and patients, in exchange for their compliance. Liu even continued her fraudulent practices while claiming COVID-19 unemployment benefits she was not entitled to.
In an extensive operation that roped in multiple licensed medical professionals, patients were reportedly brought into the offices to sign necessary paperwork to facilitate the fraudulent billing, some even leaving without receiving any real services. In some cases, patients didn't visit the offices at all; the sign-in sheets and documents were simply taken to them to forge their participation. Additionally, Liu fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits for herself and family members by misrepresenting their employment status, despite running her medical offices during the pandemic.
Along with her guilty plea, Liu has agreed to significant restitution and forfeiture of assets. Specifically, she will pay back nearly $24 million to the insurance providers she defrauded and roughly $40,000 to the New York State Department of Labor for the ill-gotten COVID-19 unemployment benefits, as well as forfeit over $15 million. Others involved in the scheme, including Noemi Algodon, Mohamed Elmandouh, Gerard Estrella, Ramon Garcia, III, Henler Datu Tahil, Jonathan Laqui, and Mitzy Baldovino have also entered guilty pleas in connection with the health care fraud, according to the same press release.
Their collaborative efforts to manipulate the system have drawn praise from the investigators from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s New York Office, and the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, among other agencies, as noted by Mr. Podolsky. The case is now being managed by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy V. Capozzi and Jerry Fang leading the prosecution.
