A federal jury convicted a licensed Illinois psychologist of defrauding Medicare over the course of several years by causing the submission of fraudulent claims for psychotherapy services he never provided. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Renato F. Duarte, aka Ren Duarte, 63, of Chicago, caused the submission of fraudulent Medicare claims from July 2016 through June 2019 for psychotherapy services purportedly provided to nursing home patients in Chicago and surrounding areas. Duarte’s scheme included fraudulently billing for in person services on dates that Duarte was traveling outside of the country and fraudulently billing for psychotherapy purportedly provided to patients who were deceased.
