Bethany Cataldi, DO, Chesterton, Ind., was sentenced to 97 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to a $50 million healthcare fraud scheme, according to a Feb. 19 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.
What happened?
- Dr. Cataldi — owner of the Center for Otolaryngology and Facial Plastic Surgery in Highland, Ind. — billed Medicare and private insurance for thousands of balloon sinuplasty procedures that she did not perform. She sought approximately $50 million for the procedures and was paid almost $20 million.
- Dr. Cataldi was also sentenced to 1 year of supervised release and ordered to pay $19 million in restitution. As part of her plea agreement, she was required to forfeit significant assets, including jewelry, vehicles, musical instruments and the contents of a number of bank accounts.
- Approximately $460,000 of the fraudulently obtained funds were paid by individual patients in the form of co-insurance payments.
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