Long Island Chiropractor Sentenced to 18 Months' Imprisonment for Multi-Million Dollar Health Care

Long Island Chiropractor Sentenced to 18 Months’ Imprisonment for Multi-Million Dollar Health Care Fraud Scheme


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.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/long-island-chiropractor-sentenced-18-months-imprisonment-multi-million-dollar-health