Suburban psychologist sent to federal prison for health care fraud

A North suburban psychologist has been sentenced to six months in federal prison and fined $100,000 for submitting false claims to private insurers and Medicare, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced Monday.

Authorities say that from 2011 to 2018, Pamela Antell submitted fraudulent claims for mental health services purportedly provided by her psychology practice in Glenview.

Some of the fraudulent claims were submitted for an individual who was not actually a patient, while in other instances Antell was not in Illinois on the dates she claimed to have provided treatment, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Antell, also known as Pamela Gruenhut, also attempted to obstruct justice by instructing a former patient to lie to investigators about co-payments and the frequency of treatment sessions, authorities say.

Antell, 67, of Deerfield, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of health care fraud. Along with the prison term and fine, U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso ordered Antell to pay nearly $1.5 million in restitution to the insurers and Medicare.