New York Doctor Faces Insurance Fraud Charges

An upstate New York doctor who allegedly hired a patient he was treating for a workers’ comp disability has been arrested for insurance fraud, according to the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF).

Dr. Vu Q. Tran, of Rochester, faces charges of insurance fraud, fraudulent insurance practices. He was arrested by State Police last month.

Tran allegedly hired patient Lisa Young as a nurse while she received workers’ compensation benefits from NYSIF. Authorities said Young, who worked for the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, sought treatment from Tran for an injury connected to her employment.

Tran returned reports to NYSIF indicating that Young was temporarily totally disabled as a result of the injury. At the same time and during a period when she collected workers’ compensation benefits from NYSIF, however, Tran allegedly employed Young as a nurse in his office, investigators said.

“This investigation would seem to dispel the stereotypical profile of the kinds of people involved in workers’ compensation fraud,” NYSIF Chief Deputy Director Francine James said.

Young, of Monroe County, has been charged with insurance fraud, and fraudulent practices in violation of the workers’ compensation law.