There are many desirable qualities that are must haves when searching for a business partner, such as complementary skill sets, similar communication practices and a shared vision. Trustworthiness and similar moral values also. Although those standards are flexible in definition! Like Junyi Liu and her eight partners who established a network of medical offices spread across Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. While Liu and the partners were all licensed professionals, including licensed physical therapists and acupuncturists, providing services based on their professional expertise was not their intent. Their collective goal was to steal millions of dollars from the U.S. taxpayer.
While the clinics were employed with receptionists, cashiers, marketers, billing personnel, acupuncturists, and massagist, the primary operation within the offices was Liu and the partners submitting false billing statements to Medicare for physical therapy and acupuncture services that patients did not require and in most were not rendered in the manner represented or were not rendered at all. The partners’ names and their National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers were rotated amongst the offices in a way to appear that partners were in the clinics providing services, even though more often than not they were not available or were abroad.
To further the scheme, Liu had cashiers distribute tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to the patients in exchange for their insurance information or signature on a sign in form – after which, the patient left without receiving any services. Liu and the partners also gave kickbacks, including cash and expensive wine, to some insurance providers to enable the scheme to continue. From 2018 to 2021, these partners generated $23 million in fraudulent health care claims.
In the meantime, while Liu was defrauding the Medicare program, she also engaged in a scheme to obtain COVID-19 unemployment benefits for herself and a friend. She fraudulently filed applications to the New York Department of Labor falsely claiming that she and her friend were unemployed, resulting in $40,000 in pandemic relief money.
On April 4, 2025, Liu plead guilty to health care fraud and unemployment fraud.
Shout out to the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “How a multi-layered fraud scheme could have derailed America’s healthcare: United States v. Junyi Liu et al.”published by RAC Publishing on April 4, 2025.
Licensed acupuncturist Junyi Liu of New York, who ran her practice under the name “Jenny,” pleaded guilty in March for operating a sophisticated $23 million healthcare fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unveiled a conspiracy that combined fraudulent billing practices with kickbacks and abuse of pandemic-related benefits.
The court proceedings show how different fraudulent activities can merge into massive criminal organizations, which threaten the entire healthcare system’s integrity.
