Natick psychiatrist accused of billing Medicare, private insurance companies for more than $10 million in treatments he did not provide

Gustavo Kinrys, a Natick psychiatrist, is accused of billing Medicare and private insurance companies more than $10 million in treatments he did not provide and then lying to investigators in an attempt to conceal his misdeeds, according to the federal authorities.

“Fraud in the Medicare system is a persistent, long-term problem,” U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said. “Physicians who defraud the system are taking dollars that could otherwise be used to support patient health. We will continue to prioritize these cases.”

Kinrys, a 49-year-old Wellesley resident, was indicted on seven counts of wire fraud, six counts of false statements relating to health care matters, one count of falsification of documents and one count of obstructing a criminal health care investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The alleged crimes occurred between January 2015 and December 2018.

A licensed psychiatrist Kinrys, owned and operated Advanced TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) Associates in Natick and Framingham according to their website that has since been removed. TMS therapy is a noninvasive method of brain stimulation that uses rapidly alternating or pulsed magnetic fields to induce electrical currents directed at a patient’s cerebral cortex.

When MassLive reached out to Advanced TMS Associates, an employee declined to comment.

Kinrys is a graduate from the Mayo Clinic and the Massachusetts General Hospital and also holds a variety of other titles in the Massachusetts therapeutic community. He is the Associate Medical Director of the MGH Clinical Trials Network and Institute, a member of the Dauten Center for Bipolar Innovation as well as an authoring at least two eBooks; “Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide,” and “Conquering your Stress & Fears: A treatment guide for anxiety and trauma-related disorders.” He has been a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty for over 15 years, according to his Amazon bio.

“We take very seriously our responsibility to safeguard taxpayer funds by eliminating fraud within our federal healthcare system,” said Phillip M. Coyne, special agent at the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Today’s arrest and the charges alleged in the indictment serve as a strong reminder that we will not tolerate fraud against our federal healthcare system or acts of obstruction that attempt to conceal those schemes.”

Kinrys is also alleged to have made numerous false statements to his patients, the billing company he worked with and insurers he submitted claims to seeking reimbursement. When he was asked for the records of the patients for the claims by Medicare, insurers and DHHS, Kinrys is alleged to have made false statements and created false documentation purporting to show that he had provided thousands of treatments he had billed for, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A statement from Lelling’s office reports that in July 2018, after a subpoena from DHHS’s Office of Inspector General asking for the medical records for 10 of his patients, Kinrys allegedly ordered his office workers to create documents falsely stating that those patients had received dozens of treatments that had not in-fact been provided. He claimed he provided over 1,000 face-to-face sessions, however, either he or his patients were in fact out of the country at the times provided, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“This case illustrates the commitment of all agencies to combat medical billing fraud which affects all citizens. The Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts places a high priority on fighting this type of insurance fraud. We applaud the collaboration of our investigative partners in combatting fraud in our healthcare system,” Anthony M. DiPaolo, executive director of the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau said.

Kinrys will appear via videoconference in federal court in Boston on Thursday afternoon.

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