Saturday 12 September 2015

Falls woman accused of faking cancer in insurance-fraud case


A Falls woman who didn't have cancer is accused of filing $500,000 in false insurance claims for chemotherapy and radiation treatments for her and her husband, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. The claims totaled about $500,000, said Bucks County detectives Eric Landamia and Tim V. Perkins, who investigated the case against Cynthia "Cindy" Clarey, 60, of the 800 block of Glenmar Road. The detectives are still investigating whether her husband, Gary, was ever diagnosed with cancer, officials said.
Clarey was arraigned Friday and released on $100,000 unsecured bail by District Judge Jan Vislosky in Falls. She is charged with identity theft, forgery, criminal theft by deception and filing false or fraudulent insurance claims.
In September 2011, Clarey purchased a cancer insurance policy through her employer, which wasn't named in the court papers. Her husband was listed as a dependent, the records show.
A little more than a year later, Clarey's first claim with American Heritage Life Insurance Co. was filed for her husband, showing a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Other claims followed and were paid. But in June 2014, a benefits claims examiner reviewed the file and determined that medical records from the treating physicians were needed before any more claims were paid, the court documents note.
The medical provider, St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown, told the insurance compnay that the records would not be released without a consent form from the patient. No consent was ever given, after two requests were made of Gary Clarey, records show. So all pending claims for Gary Clarey's treatment were denied, and the Clareys never protested, the affidavit said.
In July 2014, the insurance company received a claim of a cancer diagnosis for Cynthia Clarey, according to detectives in the DA's office. More claims followed, each with supporting documentation that turned out to be fake, they said. In December 2014, a claims examiner requested documentation from her alleged medical providers, Regional Gastro Consultants in Yardley and St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown, but both said Clarey had never been seen as a patient, according to the affidavit. They also said the documents submitted by Cynthia Clarey did not come from them, court records note.
The insurance company paid Cynthia Clarey $134,990 for claims she filed from February 2013 to December 2014, records show. During that time frame, police say Clarey submitted about 462 itemized cancer-related treatments totaling $503,213.

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