TRENTON — The owner of AM Physical Therapy clinic in Edison and Old Bridge allegedly submitted fraudulent claims totaling $24,485 for physical therapy treatments, according to New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
Marina Dreyster was charged with health care claims fraud and theft by deception, according to a release from the Office of the Insurance Fraud on June 6.
Dreyster, owner of AM Physical Therapy Clinic in Old Bridge and Edison, was indicted by a state grand jury on 16 counts of second-degree health care claims fraud and three counts of third-degree theft by deception in connection with 16 false claims she allegedly submitted to numerous insurance carriers in 2014 between June and October.
The 43-year-old Marlboro resident allegedly submitted fraudulent claims totaling $24,485 for physical therapy treatments purportedly performed by herself or another practitioner at her clinic. According to the indictment, those treatments were never rendered, including those that Dreytser claimed to have performed during a two-week period when she was vacationing in Peru.
The claims were submitted to Aetna Health Plans, Allstate Insurance Company, Cigna, Cigna Health Plans, GEICO, Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey, Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of South Carolina, New Jersey Medicare, and United Healthcare.
Deputy Attorney General Michael Clore presented the case to the grand jury on June 1. Detectives Justin Callahan, Ronald Allen, and James Mahady coordinated the investigation with assistance from analyst Marwa Kashef.
Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $150,000; third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.
