A New York acupuncturist was sentenced to 34 months in prison for participating in a $9 million healthcare fraud scheme to defraud Amtrak. Punson Figueroa, aka “Susie,” 58, of Long Island City, New York, pleaded guilty to an information charging her with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. From January 2019 through June 2022, Figueroa and her conspirators agreed to engage in a scheme to bill the Amtrak healthcare plan for fraudulent claims for services that never were provided and were medically unnecessary. Figueroa recruited Amtrak employees to participate in the scheme by paying them cash in return for allowing her to use their personal and insurance information to submit false and fraudulent claims. Figueroa conspired with dozens of Amtrak employees and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks to Amtrak employees over the course of the scheme. In total, Figueroa caused Amtrak to pay out over $9 million in false and fraudulent insurance claims. In addition to the prison term, Judge Arleo sentenced Figueroa to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $9.05 million.
