Therapists Scam $3M From NY Program For Disabled Kids: Feds

NEW YORK CITY — A group of therapists purporting to help developmentally disabled kids instead stole millions of dollars from a New York assistance program, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Nine therapists stand accused of defrauding the New York State Early Intervention Program — which provides care to special needs children under the age of three — of more than $3 million, Brooklyn's federal prosecutors said.

Investigators also estimate the therapists' alleged scam left more than 200 New York City kids without services they needed.

“As alleged, the defendants exploited disabled infants and toddlers, the youngest and most vulnerable among us, to enrich themselves by millions of dollars,” said U. S. Attorney Breon Peace.

The therapists — Mariste Adolphe, 58, Mercedes Falcon, 57, Kikelomo Ogundiran, 54, Manuel Moore, 36, Roselee Johnson, 73, Jeanette Monclova, 69, Margaret Dominque-McClain, 54, Tracy Gibson, 37, Dino Paolicelli, 58 — allegedly filed faked bills for thousands of nonexistent sessions between from 2015 to 2019, prosecutors said.

Falcon, of Brooklyn, reported, falsely that some work days began at 4 a.m. and ended at 3 a.m., according to the complaint.

Adolphe, of Brooklyn, claimed she'd provided EIP sessions on every day if the year — including weekends, Christmas and Thanksgiving — in 2016, the suit contends.

Moore, of Manhattan, charged more than 6,000 sessions on days when his phone records show he was not in New York City, investigators said.

The EIP therapists — who hailed from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten and Long islands — were arrested Tuesday morning and slated to appear in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors said.

“Defrauding government programs produces a ripple effect that trickles down to taxpayers who foot the bill for fraud schemes," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.

"When systems designed to help our most vulnerable are manipulated in this way, rest assured federal charges will be applied."