NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Nine New York City therapists have been arrested for stealing millions from a Health Department program meant to help developmentally delayed children, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The therapists logged fake appointments in order to dupe the government out of $3.3 million toward the Early Intervention Program (EIP), designed to help children from birth to age three with speech therapy, behavioral therapy or other social services, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
“As alleged, the defendants exploited disabled infants and toddlers, the youngest and most vulnerable among us, to enrich themselves by millions of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement.
The feds were tipped off by the city’s health department, which flagged eye-brow raising session schedules and discrepancies. About $2 million of the stolen cash came from the city’s health department, with another $1 million stemming from Medicaid over the course of the fraud between the start of 2015 and June 30, 2019.
The biggest defrauder in the bunch is allegedly Manuel Moore, 36, who was paid almost $700,000 for sessions that never happened, according to prosecutors.
Moore allegedly reported EIP sessions for 854 consecutive days, claiming to have worked all but 2% of days — including weekends and holidays — between a three-year period.
Another therapist, Mercedes Falcon, 57, reported phony sessions that occasionally began at 4:00 a.m. or ended at 3:00 a.m.
The therapists deprived children in need, officials said. Every child in the program has a fixed number of sessions allotted to them.
“This criminal case exemplifies the broad and damaging impact of corruption,” said Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett. "These nine defendants not only stole more than $3.3 million in public funds but also robbed more than 200 New York City children of essential Early Intervention services they were entitled to receive, according to the charges.”