Podiatrist Arrested For Using Fake Claims To Steal $100,000

NEW YORK, NY (02/14/2011)(readMedia)-- A Manhattan podiatrist has been arrested for stealing more than $100,000 from a health insurer by submitting claims for treatments that never occurred and then asking patients to lie to investigators.

Dr. Alan Shulman, 61, of East 60th Street, New York, was arrested after an investigation by the New York State Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau.

Shulman is accused of using the patient information of at least five individuals to submit the claims to CIGNA Insurance Company. Investigators allege that in two instances Shulman accepted payment for claims he filed on behalf of patients who could never have been treated. The two patients were on vacations in Europe and Disney World when the treatments ostensibly occurred.

The Insurance Department's investigation was begun when it was contacted by CIGNA after a routine examination of claims filed by Shulman aroused the suspicions of the insurer's auditors.

Investigators said they obtained evidence that Shulman urged patients to lie about receiving treatments after he learned that he was being investigated.

Shulman was arrested by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. and arraigned on a second degree charge of insurance fraud. He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted.

Shulman was released after posting $50,000 bail pending a hearing scheduled April 6.

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