A federal jury convicted a New Jersey rheumatologist for defrauding Medicare and other health insurance programs by billing for services that patients never received.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Alice Chu, 64, of Fort Lee, owned and operated a rheumatology practice in Clifton.
From 2010 through 2019, Chu billed Medicare and other health insurance programs for expensive infusion medication that her practice never purchased.
Chu also fraudulently billed millions of dollars for allergy services that patients never needed or received.
Chu was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and five counts of health care fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Prosecutors argued that, from 2010 through 2019, Chu billed Medicare and other health insurance programs for expensive infusion medication that her New Life Rheumatology Center in Clifton never purchased. Chu also fraudulently billed millions of dollars for allergy services that patients never needed or received, they said.
Chu has remained free — with prohibitions on all international travel and on billing to Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federal health care program — since an initial court appearance in Newark in Sept. 25, 2019.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. of the FBI’s Newark Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert of the Department of Health and Human Service Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Hegarty of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DOD-OIG) made the announcement.