NORFOLK, Va. — A Williamsburg wellness center owner was indicted by a federal grand jury and is accused of defrauding Virginia Medicaid and other health care programs.
According to the indictment, Maria Kokolis, 45, of Williamsburg--owner and operator of Pamisage, Inc.--received a total of at least $2,189,342 in fraudulent health care benefit program reimbursements, a portion of which came from the U.S. government.
Pamisage, Inc. offered services in integrative behavioral health and medicine, with a focus on weight management issues.
Kokolis is accused of "allegedly defrauded health care programs and the government by submitting false claims and engaging in multiple overbilling schemes,” according to Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
“EDVA remains committed to holding accountable anyone who undermines the integrity of our health care system, including the Virginia Medicaid program, which is designed to subsidize critical health care coverage for those who need it most,” Parekh said.
The scheme began around 2018 and continued through February 2020 and involved Kokolis overbilling various health care benefit programs and the Virginia Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid).
Kokolis would charge 45 minutes to an hour of face-to-face psychotherapy services for non-comparable services like sending messages through the company’s smartphone app or monitoring a client’s data.
She billed these services during times when she was out of the country on vacation and when the clients were out of state or sick in the hospital.
According to the indictment, the overbilling was so extensive that on 332 separate occasions Kokolis billed for services that exceeded 24 hours in a single day.
The indictment added she used the names, Medicaid ID numbers, and other ID information of her clients in submitting these false claims.
Kokolis is charged with health care fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, she faces a maximum of ten years in prison for each health care fraud count, and a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for each aggravated identity theft count.
