Deborah Kantor, the owner and operator of H.I.S Holdings, Inc. a debt collection agency that mostly services to New York hospitals, pleaded guilty to one count of Bribery and three counts of Rewarding Official Misconduct for bribing a hospital social worker in exchange for Medicaid client identification numbers and his approval of incomplete or falsified Medicaid applications.
Her company, H.I.S Holdings also entered a guilty plea to one count of Bribery. The company faces a fine of $10,000.
Between 2000 and 2007, Kantor had paid more than $17,749 to a hospital social worker named Michael Albrecht and an additional $50 for each active Medicaid client identification number provided. By obtaining the beneficiaries’ identification numbers, Kantor can allegedly enable them to receive Medicaid reimbursements for various hospital claims. Kantor allegedly received a total of $725,000 from a contingency of the fraudulent reimbursements.
In January 2010, Kantor and another co-defendant, Amy Gardner, were additionally convicted by a Niagara County jury for filing a false Medicaid application.
If convicted, Kantor faces a maximum penalty of 7 years in prison.