Podiatrist admits fraud, repays $410,000

Dr. Perrin Edwards, 64, of Kinderhook, charged Medicare and private insurers for services he never provided.

A Columbia County podiatrist has pleaded guilty to health care fraud for illegally charging Medicare and private insurance companies for services he never provided, state and federal officials said Thursday.

Dr. Perrin D. Edwards, 64, of Kinderhook, paid $410,000 to the United States to resolve his civil liability for his submission of false claims for payment to the Medicare program, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District on New York.

As part of his guilty plea, Edwards admitted that, though his podiatry offices in Hudson and Albany, he caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare and private insurance companies for podiatric medical services that he had not performed or that he knew would not be covered by insurance, according to the press release.

Edwards faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of post-release supervision and the possibility of a fine when he is sentenced Nov. 14 by U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.

Edwards’ guilty plea was announced by acting U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Scott J. Lampert, special agent in charge of the New York Regional Office for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General; and Vadim D. Thomas, special agent in charge of the Albany Field Office of the FBI.

Edwards’ guilty plea was entered as part of a nationwide law-enforcement operation targeting health care fraud, announced Thursday by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other officials in Washington, D.C.