Beaufort speech pathologist, former school contractor to plead guilty in $150K fraud case
A Beaufort speech pathologist and former Beaufort County School District contractor agreed Aug. 5 to plead guilty to health care fraud in federal court.
Amy Pinckney filed claims from 2006 until 2018 with Tricare, a health care program for uniformed service members managed by the Defense Health Agency, for “patients, many of whom were the children of military families and Tricare beneficiaries,” according to documents related to the charges filed against her.
Pinckney is accused of filing claims for services that were never provided and billed group therapy sessions as if they were done one-on-one, totaling $150,000, according to the case documents first reported on by The Post and Courier.
Pinckney is awaiting sentencing, but as part of her plea deal, she agreed to pay a fine that will be set by a judge.
Pinckney could not be reached for comment by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette on Sunday.
Her speech-language pathology license was issued on Sept. 19, 2000, according to the Division of Professional and Occupational Licensing Boards. She opened her private practice a year later, according to her LinkedIn page. Her license is set to expire in March 2023.
According to Beaufort County School District spokesperson Candace Bruder, Pinckney was employed by the district from 2001 to 2005 and served as an independent contractor from 2016 to 2020.
The district’s monthly financial transparency reports show that, between March of 2016 and June of 2021, Pinckney was paid thousands of dollars nearly every month via PayPal for speech therapy and special education contract services.
In total, Pinckney was paid $376,330 over the five-year period.
This story was originally published August 8, 2021 at 11:33 AM.
