Rockland County Social Worker Charged With Stealing $100,000 From Government

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that a Rockland County grand jury has indicted a Nyack social worker on charges of defrauding the Medicare and Medicaid programs of more than $100,000 by billing for therapeutic services he never rendered.

Clinical social worker Allen Steven Levy, 53, of 54 Lee Drive in Fairfield, Connecticut, was arraigned on May 4th in Rockland County Court on a 28-count indictment, charging him with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, 24 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, and one count of Tampering with Physical Evidence. If convicted, he faces up to fifteen years in prison.

According to the indictment, from March 1, 1998, to February 2, 2004, Levy systematically presented fraudulent claims for payment to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In particular, the grand jury charged Levy with billing for services he did not provide, for services provided in a different manner and at a different location than claimed, and for rates he was not entitled to charge.

The grand jury further charged that, as part of his scheme to defraud the government, Levy knowingly prepared false psychotherapy progress notes in patient files. As a result, Levy illegally received more than $50,000 each from the Medicaid and Medicare programs.

The charges against Levy are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Levy formerly maintained offices at 48 Birch Street and 2 Crossfield Drive in Nyack, and at 350 Central Park West and 25 West 81 Street in Manhattan.

Spitzer noted that the matter will be referred to the state Education Department’s Office of the Professions for a review of Levy’s social worker’s license.

Special Assistant Attorney General Thom O’Hanlon, of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s Pearl River Regional Office, is prosecuting the case. Supervising Investigator Paul Greenspan, Principal Special Auditor Investigator John Regan and Associate Special Auditor Investigator Melissa Stoebling assisted in the investigation.