A former North Carolina physical therapy office administrator was convicted for her role in a $34 million scheme to defraud several private health insurers for services that were never provided.
Jaroslava Ruiz, 50, of Chapel Hill, N.C., was found guilty by a federal jury of paying kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters and patients with private insurance in exchange for allowing four Miami physical therapy clinics to bill for medical services that were never performed on those patients, according to an Aug. 8 U.S. Justice Department news release.
Ms. Ruiz and others allegedly falsified medical records to give the impression the services were medically necessary, prescribed by a physician and were rendered, according to the news release.
About $34.6 million in false claims were submitted to private insurers, of which about $7.7 million was paid, according to the news release.
Ms. Ruiz was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, and nine counts of healthcare fraud. She faces a maximum of 110 years in prison.
She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 26.