A Glastonbury psychologist has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for stealing $1.6 million from Medicaid.
The U.S. Attorney for Connecticut says for almost seven years, Dr. Michael Pines, 75, of Avon, submitted insurance claims for non-existent psychotherapy sessions, keeping the money to finance a lavish lifestyle.
In January, Pines pleaded guilty to health care fraud. Friday, a federal judge in Hartford sentenced him to two years and three months in prison. Pines must also pay all of the money back.
Prosecutors say between 2017 and 2023, Pines submitted thousands of bogus Medicaid claims for sessions that never happened, using the real identities of Medicaid patients, mostly children. The phony sessions took place at times when he was treating actual clients paying with private insurance. He also submitted claims for times when he wasn’t working and when he was on vacation—which was often.
Pines used much of the money on international travel, seeing sites including Dublin, Barcelona, Athens, Quebec and Cancun. He also spent tens of thousands of dollars on mortgage payments for his son and on jewelry.
Having discovered the prolific scheme, according to court documents, the FBI executed a search warrant at Pines’ Glastonbury office on Oct.
25 of last year. A key giveaway: the government says Pines “regularly claimed on average of 12 hours of psychotherapy services every weekday, except major holidays,” often during hours that the supposed clients would have been in school.
Prosecutors, led by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Huang, argued in a sentencing brief for three years and one month in prison for Pines, writing, “…the government believes that, in the absence of any addiction or serious mental condition, greed fueled this opportunistic crime.”
In his sentencing brief, a defense attorney writes that Pines regrets his behavior and has made decades worth of positive contributions to society. Attorney Richard Brown adds that, “Over the course of many years, (Pines) worked primarily with young children and teenagers, helping them and their parents deal with many different mental health issues, including depression, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and behavior disorders associated with loss and trauma.”
In a letter to the court, a character witness who is a fellow psychologist writes, “Dr. Pines has been a champion of children’s emotional well-being during and after highly contested divorce situations.”
Pines has been free on a $250,000 bond. He’s scheduled to report to prison next month.
