Owner of New Jersey Counseling Center Sentenced to 15 Months for Health Care Fraud

Maria P. Cosentino, 61, admitted to filing hundreds of false insurance claims, resulting in more than $700,000 in illicit profits.

Maria P. Cosentino, the owner of Bergen Alliance Counseling Services in Garfield, New Jersey, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for her role in a health care fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Cosentino, 61, had previously pleaded guilty to charges of health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden, who imposed the sentence in Newark federal court.

According to court documents and statements, Cosentino admitted to submitting false claims to private health insurance plans for counseling sessions that never occurred. She claimed that individuals had received treatment at her center when, in reality, they were either out of the country, had ceased attending, or had never visited the facility at all. The fraudulent claims resulted in reimbursement checks being issued to Bergen Alliance Counseling Services, allowing Cosentino to collect over $700,000 in fraudulent profits.

In addition to her prison sentence, Judge Hayden ordered Cosentino to serve three years of supervised release and pay $708,038 in restitution to the defrauded insurance companies.

The investigation leading to Cosentino’s conviction was conducted by special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney DeNae Thomas of the Health Care Fraud Unit.

This sentencing underscores the government's commitment to holding individuals accountable for defrauding the healthcare system and taking advantage of patients and insurance providers.