Amtrak received taken for a trip by 119 staff in an enormous $12 million scheme — however greater than half of them are nonetheless on the corporate payroll, an inner watchdog discovered.
The employees ripped off Amtrak’s well being plan in a kickback rip-off that noticed them taking bribes from crooked docs who then filed pretend claims — and a few workers went full mob and shook down medical suppliers for his or her minimize of the money, the corporate’s Workplace of the Inspector Common stated in a report launched Tuesday.
“The sheer volume of employees who cavalierly participated in this scheme to steal Amtrak’s funds suggests not only a serious lapse in basic ethics, but a troubling workforce culture, at least in the Northeast region, in which blatant criminal behavior was somehow normalized,” Inspector Common Kevin H. Winters stated.
A few of the allegedly soiled staff — principally positioned within the New York to DC area — even handed over their youngsters’ insurance coverage data for the con that ran from 2019 to 2022, in accordance with the OIG’s workplace.
But some 61 of the scammers nonetheless work on the largely taxpayer-funded railroad, the OIG’s workplace stated.
An Amtrak spokesperson stated the corporate is taking “swift action” to cope with all of the fraudsters, including that officers have now elevated oversight and worker schooling to maintain schemes like this from occurring once more.
A few dozen Amtrak workers are going through legal costs. Seven of them have already pled responsible and are awaiting sentencing, 28 different workers retired or resigned in shame due to the investigation and one other 30 left the corporate “for other reasons,” in accordance with the OIG.
The practice firm’s watchdog started investigating the jaw-dropping scheme after an agent observed uncommon billing patterns, in accordance with the OIG’s workplace.
Brokers then found three New York well being care suppliers with “questionable billings” and a excessive variety of Amtrak workers as sufferers.
An spy posed as an Amtrak worker in June 2021 and met with Punson Figueroa — an acupuncturist from Lengthy Island Metropolis who informed the agent her title was “Susie,” in accordance with the OIG.
At Figueroa’s workplace, she had the spy signal about 30 undated papers for acupuncture and bodily remedy therapies, the report stated. Figueroa allegedly submitted the signed papers as fraudulent claims to Amtrak’s well being care supplier over the following few weeks.
The spy went again to Figueroa’s workplace the next month, and Figueroa handed them an envelope filled with $1,000 in money, in accordance with the OIG.
Two of the scams’ ringleaders — former worker Devon Burt of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and Hallum Gelzer, of East Orange, New Jersey — had been liable for recruiting Amtrak workers to take part, the probe discovered.
The pair additionally admitted to investigators they threatened to injure a well being care supplier until Gelzer was paid his minimize of hundreds of {dollars}, in accordance with the OIG.
Each pleaded responsible in June 2023 to conspiracy to commit well being care fraud and conspiracy to speak extortionate threats. As a part of a plea settlement, Burt agreed to pay again practically $1 million. Gelzer agreed to pay again about $1.66 million, in accordance with the OIG.
Figueroa pleaded responsible to fraud final fall and was sentenced to a few years of supervised launch. She was ordered to pay greater than $9 million in restitution, in accordance with the OIG.
A physician from New Jersey, Muhammed Mirza, was ordered to serve 26 months in jail for his position within the scheme. Mirza was additionally ordered to pay again $1.37 million when he was convicted in Might 2024, in accordance with the OIG.
A podiatrist, Michael DeNicola from New York, pled responsible in 2022 to conspiracy to commit well being care fraud, distribution of a managed substance and illegal possession of a firearm. He’s awaiting sentencing, in accordance with the OIG.
Medical biller Regina Choi from Woodside, who labored for Figueroa throughout the con, admitted to submitting fraudulent claims to Amtrak’s well being care plan and paying kickbacks to Amtrak workers. She pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit well being care fraud however is awaiting sentencing, the workplace stated.
The six different workers who pleaded responsible to well being care fraud conspiracy costs had been Rodolfo Rivera of Clayton, Delaware; Anthony Saloka of Elizabeth, New Jersey; Michael Toal of Hazlet, New Jersey; David McBrien of Levittown, Pennsylvania; Damany Walker of Irvington, New Jersey; and David Lonergan of Rockaway Park, New York, in accordance with the OIG.
