A former office manager and bookkeeper for a practice in Pawtucket, R.I., has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for misappropriating nearly $570,000 in medical funds and $11,000 in state benefits.
Tianna Keller developed and executed schemes to add family members and friends as paid employees of the medical practice and collected patient co-payments and other funds for personal expenses, including personal credit card debt, wireless phone bills and college tuition payments, according to a Sept. 24 news release from the Justice Department.
After her fraud was discovered, she left the practice on medical leave. After her medical leave expired she was terminated from the practice and applied for TDI benefits, which she continued to collect after gaining new employment, according to the report.
Ms. Keller pleaded guilty to two charges of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. She also was ordered to pay $579,857 in restitution to the medical practice, an insurance company and the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training Temporary Disability Benefits program.