Former Mahomet counselor sentenced for healthcare fraud, ordered to repay $514,000

Sept. 15--SPRINGFIELD -- A 40-year-old man who provided counseling services out of his Mahomet home has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for submitting false billings to health insurance companies.

Christopher DiFilippo, who now lives in Bakersfield, California, was also ordered to repay $514,297 to various insurers, according to John E. Childress, U.S. attorney for the central district of Illinois. He must serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison, with the first year under home confinement, Childress said in a statement.

DiFilippo pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud on May 11. He admitted to submitting false billings to health care insurers from 2012 to 2017, Childress said.

DiFilippo became a licensed social worker in 2009 and started his own company, KD Counseling, in 2012. He counseled patients in his Mahomet home on weekends and in the evening until he moved to Texas in 2015. He later moved to Missouri and then California. Some counseling was done over the phone and with the video-chatting software Skype.

A number of agencies worked on the investigation, including the FBI, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Special investigative units of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Health Alliance Medical Plans also assisted.

Contact Allison Petty at (217) 421-6986. Follow her on Twitter: @allison0512

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