A podiatrist formerly based in New York has been sentenced to 32 months in prison for his role in a scheme that defrauded Amtrak’s health care plan, as well as for unlawfully distributing opioids and illegally possessing a firearm, according to an Oct. 7 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Michael DeNicola, 64, also received three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution and forfeit more than $1.3 million. He pleaded guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, unlawful distribution of controlled substances and unlawful possession of a firearm.
From 2019 to August 2021, Dr. DeNicola and co-conspirators paid Amtrak employees to let them use their patient and insurance information to bill the Amtrak plan for services that were never provided or were medically unnecessary, causing more than $1.6 million in losses. Separately, from April 2017 through February 2018, he issued 64 oxycodone prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose, some to an individual in exchange for that person’s insurance information and others at that individual’s direction. He also possessed a firearm in September 2019 despite a prior felony conviction.
The broader scheme involved dozens of Amtrak employees and multiple providers, who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks. The Amtrak plan paid more than $11 million in fraudulent claims tied to providers connected to the scheme, and 19 people, including Dr. DeNicola, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
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