Nurse Practitioner Defrauds Student Loan Fund Of $10.5M: Feds

ELMSFORD, NY — A Westchester County nurse practitioner was accused of orchestrating the fraudulent discharge of more than $10 million in financial aid aimed at helping people who have permanent physical or mental disabilities.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Catherine Seemer, 42, of Elmsford, was charged with one count of wire fraud, one count of federal financial aid fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

He said Seemer executed the scheme that resulted in the fraudulent distribution of more than $10.5 million worth of students loads on the basis of falsified medical certifications of permanent disabilities.

Williams said the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Program was designed to help ease the financial burden of those who suffer from permanent physical or mental disabilities, including military veterans who endure service-related disabilities, by relieving them of their student loan obligations.

"As alleged, the defendant defrauded this program for her own benefit," he said. "She stole the identities of more than a dozen medical doctors and falsified the disabilities of more than 100 borrowers in order to profit from the multi-year scheme."

According to prosecutors, Seemer, from June 2017 through March, deceived more than 100 borrowers into believing they qualified for various forms of student loan relief and charged them fees — often between 10 percent and 20 percent of the loan amount — to facilitate their loan discharge process.

Using their personal identifying information, authorities said, she submitted fraudulent applications for the discharge of student loans based on non-existent permanent physical and mental disabilities.

To support the fraudulent applications, Seemer used stolen identities, medical license numbers and forge signatures of more than a dozen medical doctors to falsify medical diagnoses and disability certifications, according to prosecutors.

It was estimated that she received at least $1 million as a result of the fraudulent activities, prosecutors said.

Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Financial aid fraud carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.