Morris Barnard, a gastroenterologist practicing in Great Neck, New York, was sentenced by United States District Judge Gary R. Brown to 30 months in prison for healthcare fraud. Barnard pleaded guilty to the charge in March 2022. The Court also ordered over $1.4 million in restitution to Medicare. From October 2015 through February 2020, the defendant submitted over $3 million in billings to Medicare for colonoscopy and gastroenterological procedures that were not performed. Most of these billings indicated that the services were rendered to disabled beneficiaries, who were living in residential group homes. Medicare reimbursed approximately $1.4 million of these false claims, none of which the defendant was entitled to receive.
