Watertown therapy practice and owner settle Connecticut false-claims case for $2.37 million

Attorney General William Tong announced a $2,366,269.94 settlement on Nov. 13 with Therapy Unlimited, LLC, a Watertown occupational and physical therapy practice, and its owner, Catherine Risigo Wickline, resolving allegations that they overbilled Connecticut's Medicaid program.

The settlement requires Therapy Unlimited and Wickline to forfeit $433,700 in suspended Medicaid payments, in addition to paying the $1,932,570 in criminal restitution a court ordered after Wickline's conviction, according to the attorney general's office. Those two figures add up to about $2.37 million, which matches the announced total by our arithmetic.

The attorney general's office sued Wickline and the practice in 2019 under the Connecticut False Claims Act. Its investigation found thousands of inflated claims to the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program between January 2014 and July 2019, the office said. Therapy Unlimited provided occupational and physical therapy, primarily to children, at its Watertown office starting at least in 2014.

Investigators found evidence that the practice routinely billed for up to two and a half hours of therapy when 30 to 45 minutes was provided, the office said. Nearly all claims listed Wickline, a licensed occupational therapist, as the performing provider, including, the office alleged, in instances where a lower-level provider or an unlicensed provider performed the services.

The civil case was put on hold while a criminal case moved forward. In 2021, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Chief State's Attorney's Office charged Wickline with larceny and health care fraud based on the same alleged scheme. In 2024, she was convicted of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and of health insurance fraud, both Class B felonies, after a guilty plea under the Alford doctrine. The court sentenced her to eight years in prison, execution suspended, with five years of probation, and ordered the $1,932,570 in restitution.

Because of the conviction, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General excluded Wickline from participating as a provider in government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, the attorney general's office said.

"Fraudulent billing wastes taxpayer dollars and undermines trust in our vital public healthcare programs," Tong said in the release.

The release does not include a statement from Therapy Unlimited or Wickline, and it does not say whether the settlement admits liability.

The attorney general's Government Program Fraud Section takes reports of suspected fraud or abuse in public health care programs at 860-808-5040 or ag.fraud@ct.gov. The Department of Social Services fraud hotline is 1-800-842-2155.