Owner of physical therapy business pleads guilty to obstructing federal audit

The owner of an Old Saybrook physical therapy business pleaded guilty Tuesday in Bridgeport to one count of obstructing a federal audit.

Todd Roberts, 47, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18, 2012. He faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Roberts, the owner of Roberts Physical and Aquatic Therapy at 210 Main St., first came under scrutiny on Jan. 23, 2009, when a Medicare contractor informed his business that the contractor was performing an audit of the practic, according to U.S. Attorney David Fein's office.

Roberts, according to court documents and statements made in court, instructed an employee to delay the audit by telling the contractor that medical records were stored at a nonexistent storage facility.

Roberts then rented a storage unit at a local facility and used the delay to alter and augment patient records, according to Fein's office. Specifically, Roberts and an employee at his direction created and added patient progress notes when no notes had been created at the time of service. The notes made it appear as though Medicare beneficiaries had obtained direct, one-on-one service from a licensed physical therapist when, in fact, some of the services had been rendered by unlicensed auxiliary personnel, Fein's office said.