Junyi Liu has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The announcement was made by Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Liu, also known as Jenny, was involved in a scheme that defrauded insurance providers by billing for unnecessary or unperformed acupuncture and physical therapy services. These activities took place at medical offices located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Liu entered her guilty plea before Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
"Junyi Liu led a fraud scheme in which she and her co-conspirators bilked Medicare and other insurers out of millions of dollars by submitting fraudulent claims for acupuncture and physical therapy services," said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky. "Liu took advantage of our health care system—and abused her licensing as an acupuncturist—and she now awaits sentencing for her crime. This Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to detect and dismantle fraud schemes, including schemes that seek to siphon money from our health care system."
Court documents reveal that from 2018 to 2021, Liu and her partners fraudulently billed Medicare and other insurance providers for services not performed as claimed or not performed at all. Her co-conspirators included licensed medical professionals who allowed the use of their insurance enrollments to submit false claims. They also created falsified medical documentation and financed operations, including cash kickbacks to patients to provide their insurance information.
In furtherance of the fraud, Liu employed a range of personnel, including receptionists and cashiers, who distributed cash kickbacks to patients. These patients sometimes received unnecessary services, but in other instances, they either left without receiving services or did not visit the offices at all, despite their insurance being billed for services.
Additionally, Liu engaged in another scheme from April 2020 through September 2021 to obtain COVID-19 unemployment benefits for herself and a family member by submitting false applications. She falsely claimed unemployment while continuing her operations and misrepresented her family member's employment status during a period of absence.
Liu, 70, from Great Neck, New York, has agreed to pay $23,855,425 in restitution to the insurance providers and $40,075 to the New York State Department of Labor. She also agreed to the forfeiture of $15,368,171. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, though the actual sentence will be determined by a judge.
Others who have pled guilty in connection with this scheme include Noemi Algodon, Mohamed Elmandouh, Gerard Estrella, Ramon Garcia, III, Henler Datu Tahil, Jonathan Laqui, and Mitzy Baldovino.
Acting U.S. Attorney Podolsky praised the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s New York Office, the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the New York State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General for their investigative efforts.
This case is overseen by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy V. Capozzi and Jerry Fang leading the prosecution.