Florida Physical Therapist Pleads Guilty to Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

A Florida physical therapist pleaded guilty to submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for services she never provided, according to a Ledger report.

Lilian J. Pagkaliwangan operated Lakeland Therapy Providers and Optimum Therapy with her husband, Raymundo P. Arellano, also a physical therapist who pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements and aggravated identity theft.

The indictment against the couple said they falsified patient records, submitted fraudulent claims for services never provided, submitted claims by a therapist who wasn't enrolled as a Medicaid provider and submitted false claims for individual therapy that was actually performed in a group setting.

Lakeland Therapy purportedly provided services to indigent or disabled patients and billed Medicaid for those services. Optimum Therapy purportedly offered services to elderly people in assisted living homes and billed Medicare. The couple agreed to forfeit $319,415, which is the total amount they collectively received from Medicare and Medicaid.

Ms. Pagkaliwangan and Mr. Arellano are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

Read the Ledger's report on the Florida physical therapist fraud.

Read more coverage on Miami healthcare fraud:

- Owner of Miami HIB Infusion Clinic and Wife Plead Guilty to $13.7M Medicare Fraud Scheme

- Two Miami Patient Recruiters Sentenced for Submitting False Claims, Paying Kickbacks

- Miami Clinic Owner Convicted of Medicare Fraud

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