Speech therapist jailed on fraud charges

Speech therapist jailed on fraud charges

By LISA R. HOWELER
Published:
Friday, August 20, 2010 9:12 AM EDT
WYSOX — The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has filed charges of Medicaid fraud against Peter Anthony Ferrulli, a speech patholigist practicing in Wysox under the name Spectrum Therapeutic Services.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the attorney general’s office, Ferrulli allegedly bilked the government out of at least $365,602, and possibly more, in false medicaid claims from 2005 to 2010.
Officials say Ferrulli sent bills to Medicaid for patients even when they were not actually at his office for an appointment, or if their appointment had been canceled, in addition to billing when the patients did attend a session. him. Ferrulli said he had instructed an office employee from 2004 to 2009 on how to bill Medicaid, but that he billed the Medicaid program.

He added that there were times he had the bookeeper bill Medicaid, while he had billed private insurance companies for the same patient.

He also admitted to billing patients who cancelled appointments, and billing when he was on vacations, such as in Cancun, Mexico.

“He admitted that he fraudulently billed the MA program ‘just to keep on top of the business and the bills and I guess to do stupid, stupid stuff with it,’ and that he fell into a routine,” the affidavit reads.

Ferrulli said he had used the money to pay bills and salaries, had gone on a couple of vacations, and bought some jewelry. He also bought cars, motorcycles, four-wheelers, and snowmobiles.

When asked how much he thought he had fradulently obtained through the MA program, Ferrulli told investigators, “probably over a million.”

Investigations found that in one case, Ferrulli had billed $859 to the Medicaid program on dates where the patient had not even been at his office, while he billed $611 for actual visits. Ferrulli billed as much as $25,629 for one patient from 2005 to 2010, according to the affidavit.

Ferrulli’s estranged wife, who had eight children with Ferrulli, told investigators there were certain dates Ferrulli could not have been working, but yet he sent bills in for these dates. She knew this because of the activities with the children, vacations, and hospital stays, the affidavit states.

The dates questioned by Ferrulli’s ex-wife showed he had billed Medicaid for $138,614, according to the documents.

Ferrulli’s former fiance, who has one child with Ferrulli, worked as a bookeeper for him from 2007 to 2009 and told investigators that Ferrulli told her it was legal to bill patients for appointments if they did not show.

The fiance told investigators that she had done taxes for Ferrulli and questioned him making the almost $400,000 he reported on his tax returns.

Another secretary was also interviewed and told investigators she worked for Ferrulli for two months before discovering he was billing clients who had missed appointments. When the secretary questioned Ferrulli on his billing practices, he told her she could quit if she didn’t like it — so she did.

An additional secretary backed up the previous testimony by the other bookeepers and receptionists.

Patients who were interviewed said there were times their children were taken to Ferrulli’s office but he was not there for an appointment. They later learned that their Medicaid had been billed despite his having not appeared for the appointment.

In one instance, the family was in Maryland on the dates Ferrulli said they were at his office for an appoinment.

The attorney general’s office states that it is possible additional fradulant claims were filed by Ferrulli, and are being looked into — including one for $1,374 filed with a local nursing company, involved in transportation of patients to Ferrulli’s office.

Ferrulli is currently in the Bradford County Correctional Facility in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Testimony from former employees, patients, as well as Ferrulli himself, sealed the case against the speech patholigist, according to documents filed at the office of Bradford County Magesterial District Judge Fred Wheaton, Wysox.

Ferrulli is licensed under the state of Pennsylvania as a speech language patholigist, according to the paperwork filed by Special Agent Ralph M. Zezza, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Bureal of Criminal Investigations, Medicaid Fraud Control System.

The department of public welfare contacted the AG’s office with the concerns of fradulant billing, which was brought to their attention from phone calls on the MA Provider Compliance Hotline.

When interviewed by investigators, Ferrulli admitted to falsley billing Medicaid through two different numbers assigned to