An Old Saybrook physical therapist will serve three months of probation and repay federal taxpayers nearly $329,000 for going to unusual lengths to delay a Medicare audit of his practice, federal authorities say.
Todd Roberts, 47, was sentenced Monday in Bridgeport federal court after pleading guilty last September to one count of obstructing a federal audit, the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s office said Monday.
According to investigators, Roberts was notified in January 2009 that his practice, Roberts Physical & Aquatics Therapy, 210 Main St., would undergo a Medicare audit.
Roberts told an employee to tell the auditor his records were in a non-existent storage facility, authorities said. He then rented a storage facility and used the delay to alter and augment patient records.
Later, the U.S. lodged a civil claim against Roberts and his practice, alleging improper Medicare billing between April 2007 and March 2010, they said.
The defendants agreed to a civil settlement that calls for full repayment of the $328,828 that was misbilled, authorities said.
A phone message to Roberts’ office Monday wasn’t immediately returned.
