Monday, September 16, 2019

North Suburban Psychologist Sentenced to Prison for Billing for Nonexistent Services


CHICAGO — A north suburban psychologist has been sentenced to six months in federal prison and fined $100,000 for submitting false claims to private insurers and Medicare.

PAMELA ANTELL, also known as Pamela Gruenhut, operated a psychology practice in Glenview.  From 2011 to 2018, Antell submitted fraudulent claims to private insurers and Medicare for mental health services that were not rendered.  Some of the fraudulent claims were submitted for an individual who was not actually a patient, while in other instances Antell was not in Illinois on the dates she claimed to have provided treatment.  Antell also attempted to obstruct justice by instructing a former patient to lie to investigators about the frequency of treatment sessions and the patient’s payment of copayments.

Antell, 67, of Deerfield, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of health care fraud.  In addition to the prison term and fine, U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso on Friday ordered Antell to pay $1,464,810 in restitution to the insurers and Medicare.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly Greening and L. Heidi Manschreck.

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