A district judge sentenced a Herrin woman, formerly employed in southern Illinois as a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs, to 10 months imprisonment after she admitted to submitting false medical documents, obstructing justice, and committing Medicare fraud. Theresa A. Kelly, 57, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of concealing a material fact by trick, scheme or device; three counts of making or using a false writing or document; one count of obstruction of justice and one count of healthcare fraud. Kelly’s conduct involved a multi-faceted scheme that impacted her employment at the VA, fraudulent billing to Medicare, and the obstruction of a federal civil lawsuit in the Southern District of Illinois. Kelly, a licensed clinical psychologist, was employed by the Marion VA Medical Center. According to court documents, between November 2016 and August 2020, Kelly submitted fraudulent medical documentation in the name of real and fake medical providers as part of the approval process for reasonable accommodations and medical leave, including FMLA leave. Kelly admitted to submitting false medical documents with forged signatures of two legitimate medical providers, one of whom is local to the southern Illinois area.
In addition to her submission of fraudulent medical documents, Kelly engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare and obtain payment for psychiatric services that she did not provide to residents of a Southern Illinois nursing home between May 2016 and January 2018. In addition to her full-time job at the VA, Kelly owned a company by the name of TS Onsite Mental Health through which she claimed to provide psychotherapy sessions to patients at Shawnee Christian Nursing Center in Herrin, Illinois. Kelly billed Medicare for more than 400 claims—worth more than $54,000—for services that she did not provide. Kelly billed for at least some of the services on days she was on approved medical leave from the VA. In addition her term of imprisonment, Kelly was ordered to repay $35,795.94 in restitution to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as repayment for her fraudulent claims. Kelly also admitted to obstructing justice in a civil proceeding in federal court by submitting fraudulent medical documentation to her attorney—the contents of which were used to seek a continuance of the judicial proceeding. In April 2020, Kelly filed a discrimination complaint in U.S. District Court against the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Rather than proceeding with the case, Kelly submitted a letter impersonating a real physician who had practiced in Anna, IL but had never treated Kelly. Kelly’s lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by the judge.
