Home Economy Government Former office manager sentenced for defrauding Pawtucket dermatologist

Former office manager sentenced for defrauding Pawtucket dermatologist

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PBN Staff

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09/23/2024

PVMYynWF-gceDU78f-svXubYP8-courthouse-1 — A FORMER OFFICE manager of a Pawtucket dermatologist’s office has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing nearly $600,000 from her employer and more than $11,000 in TDI benefits, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha announced Monday. / COURTESY U.S. DISTRICT COURT

PAWTUCKET – A former office manager for a dermatologist’s office has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing nearly $600,000 from her employer and more than $11,000 in TDI benefits, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha announced Monday. Tianna Keller, 66 of South Easton, Mass., was accused

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PAWTUCKET – A former office manager for a dermatologist’s office has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing nearly $600,000 from her employer and more than $11,000 in TDI benefits, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha announced Monday. Tianna Keller, 66 of South Easton, Mass., was accused of using her position of office manager at School Street Dermatology operated by Dr. David S. Pomerantz, her authority to sign office documents and her position as benefits manager to orchestrate schemes to enrich herself, her son Brandyn Coffman and a friend. According to court documents, Keller gave herself unauthorized salary increases, added family members and a friend to the payroll and provided them with unauthorized gross wages totaling approximately $46,703, failed to deposit nearly $108,000 in patient cash payments, issued dozens of checks payable to herself and others, signing the name of the medical practice’s owner without his permission. She's also accused of using company funds and credit cards as payment for her rent, a daughter’s tuition, restaurant, grocery, retail and other personal and travel expenses and personal services, according to court documents. Keller was also accused of authorizing continued enrollment and payment of nearly $40,000 for family medical insurance coverage for her son and his family, after he voluntarily left his job as a data clerk at the medical practice, according to court documents. It is also alleged that an insurer paid more than $14,000 in claims submitted by Coffman and his family. Keller, who was receiving temporary disability insurance payments after she was fired from the dermatology practice, also fraudulently collected $11,847 in TDI benefits. Keller previously pleaded guilty to two charges of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith sentenced Keller to 27 months of incarceration to be followed by three years of federal supervised release. Additionally, at the request of the government, Keller was ordered to pay restitution totaling $579,857 to the medical practice, an insurance company that covered some of the loss to the medical practice, and the R.I. Department of Labor and Training Temporary Disability Benefits program.