Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Naomi Gruchacz, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), announced the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging acupuncturists Junyi Liu, a/k/a “Jenny,” and Hongxing Wang, as well as physical therapists Jonathan Laqui and Mitzy Baldovino and insurance company employee Victor Man, a/k/a “Mr. Wen,” with operating an over $20 million healthcare fraud scheme at medical offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens (the “Offices”). As part of the fraud scheme, Man referred patients to the Offices in exchange for kickbacks and also assisted in paying kickbacks to the patients (the “Paid Patients”), who were insured by Medicare and/or other insurance providers (collectively, the “Insurance Providers”). The defendants and their co-conspirators then billed the insurance providers for physical therapy and acupuncture services that were unnecessary or never performed. Liu was additionally charged with unlawfully enriching herself and a family member through a COVID-19 unemployment benefit scheme.
