The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico published the result of the investigation of a complaint about alleged irregularities related to the billing of speech and language therapies to students of two schools in Juana Díaz. The referral notes that invoices were paid to a contracted corporation for services not rendered.
The investigation reveals that a therapist subcontracted by the company contracted by the Department of Education from 2016 to 2017, to offer audiology, speech-language, and therapy services to special education students, billed $3,842 for 251 therapies that she did not provide. In addition, she presented documents with altered signatures and false information in the Therapy Service Certifications, to justify the collection of these.
From the examination of the documentary and testimonial evidence, the therapist admitted that she offered few therapies, that she noted an approximate number of therapy sessions in the records, and said that the teacher signed the certifications without verifying them. In this regard, the company dispensed with the therapist's services on May 6, 2017.
The special education teachers of the Dr. Máximo Donoso Sánchez and Juanita Rivera schools affirmed in sworn statements that they did not recognize their signature on the attendance sheets nor on the certifications of intervention services that were presented to them.
Several parents of eight of the nine special education students declared that three of their children had not received the services and that the therapist contacted them to sign the documents. One of the mothers indicated that she refused to sign the service document because her daughter had not received the therapy, another mother did not recognize her signature on one of the certifications, and another commented that her children told her that the therapist was absent.
These situations were referred to the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Education and to the Department of Justice on December 19, 2019.
For the therapist's actions, the crimes of aggravated illegal appropriation, fraud and falsification of documents, among others, classified in Act 146-2012 of the Penal Code of Puerto Rico, may have been constituted. In addition, the Department did not ensure that the company carried out effective supervision of the therapist and the services she provided.
The Result of the Investigation dated December 10, 2020.
See the Audit Report OALIL-I-21-03.
To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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