Monroe, NY – Medical Biller Charged With Embezzling $100,000 From Prominent Jewish Doctor

Monroe, NY – A 55-year-old medical biller is accused of stealing at least $109,000 from two Orange County doctors over the course of three years, state police said Monday.

Patricia Hughes of Milford, Pa., surrendered to investigators on Friday. On Monday, Senior Investigator John Van Der Molen’s desk was piled high with documents pertaining to the case, as his squad continued to sort out the paper trail.

“It’s at $109,000, and we believe it’s going to go higher,” Van Der Molen said. “We believe it’s going to end up at about $150,000.”

Hughes is charged with second-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records, felonies, and more charges could be filed after the case is reviewed by an Orange County grand jury.

She’s accused of taking checks that were written by insurance companies, intended for her employers, Drs. Seymour Lutwak and Leo Rubin, and depositing the checks in her own account.

She’s accused of covering her tracks by making fake entries in office ledgers, which led to the charge of falsifying business records.

The doctors have offices on Route 208, straddling the border of the towns of Monroe and Blooming Grove, and in the Rockland County Village of Suffern. The investigation began after one of the doctors told state police that an audit showed that some checks that they should have received were missing.

Hughes had worked for the doctors for about four years, Van Der Molen said. As of Monday afternoon, the investigation had placed the beginning of the alleged thefts in February 2006.

Hughes was arraigned Friday before Monroe Town Justice Morton Marshak and sent to Orange County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail or $100,000 bond. She remained in the jail Monday afternoon, pending a return to Town Court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.