Glenview Psychologist Indicted On Medicare Fraud Charges

CHICAGO — A North Shore doctor billed taxpayers for fake appointments for years before her arrest Tuesday, prosecutors said. Operating out of a office in Glenview, the clinical psychologist is accused of submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare and insurance companies between 2011 and 2018 for mental health services that were never provided.

Pamela Antell, 66, of the 100 block of Bentley Court in Deerfield, was indicted on five counts of health care fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft following an investigation by the FBI, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.

According to the indictment, she used names and dates of birth from at least three of her patients to create phony claim forms to make it seem like she had offered services between Dec. 23, 2015 and Jan. 8, 2018.

Prosecutors said Antell, who sometimes goes by her married name of Pamela Gruenhut, was not even in Illinois on some of the dates she claimed to have seen patients.

Each health care fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted. Conviction for aggravated identity includes a mandatory two-year prison term to be served consecutively to the sentence for an underlying offense. The indictment does not specify the number of occasions on which Antell is accused of submitting fraudulent claims or the amount of money she is charged with illegally pocketing.

Antell pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was released on a personal recognizance bond. She is due back in court for a status hearing on Oct. 24. A message left at Antell's Glenview office was not returned, and a voicemail box on a listed home phone number was full.