Podiatrist booted to jail, ordered to foot the bill for fraud

A California podiatrist has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail after being convicted of billing insurance companies for medical services she never actually performed.

Renae Louise Witt, 42, was sentenced to 364 days in jail and two years of probation, according to a report by The Orange County Register. Witt was also ordered to pay restitution to two insurance companies she billed for medical treatment she never actually performed.

Witt, who worked at Tustin Place Medical Group, submitted claims totaling $174,395 for services she claimed to have provided for six different patients between 2015 and 2017, the Register reported. The companies paid out more than $75,800 on the claims. When Anthem Blue Cross began an investigation into the billings, Witt fabricated medical records to prop up her story.

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“This doctor violated that position of trust and used her unsuspecting patients as a revenue stream by bilking insurance companies out of tens of thousands of dollars for work she never performed,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

Witt is also facing a 10-year suspension of her medical license, the Register reported.