Owner of CT counseling practice sentenced to conditional discharge for defrauding Medicaid of $27K
Soraya Sawicki, 64, was sentenced on Tuesday in Hartford Superior Court to 18 months in prison, suspended, and five years of conditional discharge, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. One of her conditions stipulates that she cannot serve as a provider in the Medicaid program.
DCJ officials said Sawicki paid full restitution as part of the plea deal she accepted. The deal required her to plead guilty to one felony count of health insurance fraud, officials said.
According to officials, Sawicki was a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Infinity Integrated Counseling and Spa Services, LLC, in Avon. An investigation by the inspectors of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney found that she billed for services that were never provided, defrauding the program out of $27,068 between September of 2019 and June of 2021.
The fraud unit was assisted in the investigation by the State of Connecticut Department of Social Services Office of Quality Assurance and the Avon Police Department.
Because she was convicted of a program-related felony, Sawicki is subject to a 'mandatory exclusion as a health care provider to certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulators,' DCJ officials said.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State's Attorney at 860-258-5986.
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