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‘Getting fat on the bung!’ – Therapists accused of bilking New York of $600K from disabled children, having done no work, at all

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Psychotherapists accused of bilking &dollar;600K from disabled children therapist<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Also charged are therapists Kaderrah Doyle&comma; 41&comma; Cara Steinberg&comma; 40&comma; Marina Golfo&comma; 44&comma; Ego Onaga&comma; 45&comma; Danielle Scopinich&comma; 35&comma; Patricia Hakim&comma; 54&comma; and 58-yer-old Enock Mensah<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>One of the defendants&comma; 30-year-old Lyubov Beylina&comma; was away vacationing in the Dominican Republic on a day she allegedly billed Medicaid for therapy sessions<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Her case has been used as an exhibit in the federal case against eight therapists who allegedly defrauded Medicaid for &dollar;600&comma;000 <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Kaderrah Doyle in one case&comma; filed two invoices for two sessions with two kids in two different places at the same time&comma; neither of which she  attended &comma; prosecutors said <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Patricia Hakim&comma; like Beylina&comma; was allegedly abroad when she filed several claims&comma; vacationing in Ireland and Spain<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>The probe uncovered thousands of alleged bogus claims filed over the years in the form of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;session notes” detailing when and where the treatments took place<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Widespread alleged scam&comma; which ran from roughly August 2012 through April 2018&comma; was uncovered when NY city Health Dept discovered several curious claims and tipped off investigators <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">In some instances the therapists forged the names of the children&&num;8217&semi;s guardians or parents on documentation&comma; federal prosecutors said<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"author-byline"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"featured-image-wrapper">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"featured-image"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"wp-caption-text featured"><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-300235" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;10&sol;Lyubov-Beylina-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Lyubov Beylina 1&period;JPG" width&equals;"739" height&equals;"488" &sol;>Tripped by Facebook&colon; Therapist Lyubov Beylina allegedly&comma; was in the Dominican Republic on of the days she allegedly billed Medicaid for therapy sessions&comma; posting the incriminating photos online<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"entry-content entry-content-read-more">&NewLine;<p>Eight New York city psychotherapists bilked taxpayers for more than &dollar;600&comma;000 in sessions with developmentally-delayed kids that they never performed — forging parents’ signatures to get paid while they slacked off and even took vacations&comma; authorities said Thursday&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Lyubov Beylina&comma; Kaderrah Doyle&comma; Cara Steinberg&comma; Marina Golfo&comma; Ego Onaga&comma; Danielle Scopinich&comma; Patricia Hakim and Enock Mensah were accused of stealing more than &dollar;600&comma;000 from Medicaid and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through fraudulent billing practices&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The accused staffers&comma; which include two city Department of Education employees&comma; were supposed to be treating children&comma; ranging from babies to 5-year-olds&comma; under initiatives like the state’s Early Intervention Program&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Instead&comma; they forged the signatures of the parents of roughly 200 vulnerable kids on invoices for treatment they never provided&comma; filed the claims for taxpayer-funded payment with Medicaid and the state health department&comma; and blew off their young patients&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-edny&sol;pr&sol;eight-therapists-arrested-scheme-defraud-program-developmentally-disabled-children">prosecutors alleged<&sol;a> Thursday in Brooklyn federal court&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;One defendant&comma; Lyubov Beylina&comma; billed for 51 EIP therapy sessions between June 28 and July 5&comma; 2016&comma; the same stretch when a Facebook photo shows her lounging on a beach in the Dominican Republic&comma; decked out in a hot-pink bikini and clutching an iguana&comma; officials said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In addition to Beylina&comma; 30&comma; other therapist swept up in the fraudulent billing scam include Kaderrah Doyle&comma; 41&comma;  Cara Steinberg&comma; 40 and 44-year-old Marina Golfo&comma; 44&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Others charged  Ego Onaga&comma; 45&comma; Danielle Scopinich&comma; 35&comma; Patricia Hakim&comma; 54 and Enock Mensah&comma; 58&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Highlighting the duplicity&comma; William Sweeney&comma; Assistant Director-in-Charge for the FBI&comma; observed&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Rather than provide honest services&comma; they chose to line their own pockets at the expense of taxpayers and the developmentally-delayed children and their families for whom these funds were targeted&comma;” said Sweeney&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The widespread alleged scam&comma; which ran from roughly August 2012 through April 2018&comma; depending on the defendant&comma; was uncovered when workers at the city Health Department discovered several curious claims and tipped off the Department of Investigation&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The probe uncovered thousands of alleged bogus claims filed over the years in the form of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;session notes” detailing when and where the treatments took place&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Investigators cross-referenced the claims with data including the suspects’ phone&comma; GPS and air-travel records and realized that the therapists where nowhere near where the appointments supposedly took place&comma; court papers state&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;another defendant Patricia Hakim&comma; like Beylina&comma; was allegedly abroad when she filed several claims&comma; taking in the sights in Ireland and Spain&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Doyle’s suspected cover-ups were even more sloppy&colon; In one case&comma; she filed two invoices for two sessions with two kids in two different places at the same time&comma; of which she allegedly attended neither&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Kaderrah Doyle and Ego Onaga&comma; both employees of the Dept Of Education have been reassigned away from kids as the department seeks their removal from the payroll&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Bail for the defendants was set at amounts ranging from &dollar;100&comma;000 to &dollar;150&comma;000&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Health Department is reaching out to the families of the roughly 200 kids shorted on their sessions to arrange the treatment they need&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

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