Catherine Seemer, X-Twitter
Danielle R. Sassoon, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CATHERINE SEEMER, a nurse practitioner who stole the identities of 12 medical doctors and orchestrated an $11.2 million disability loan fraud scheme, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel to five years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon said: “Today, Catherine Seemer has been held accountable for defrauding a federal loan forgiveness program created to help ease the financial burden of those who suffer from permanent physical or mental disabilities, including military veterans who endure service-related disabilities. Seemer used the stolen identities of a dozen medical doctors to falsify disabilities and cause more than $11.2 million in loans to be fraudulently discharged. This Office remains dedicated to rooting out fraud and abuse of taxpayer-funded government programs.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint, Information, and statements made in court:
From June 2017 through March 2022, SEEMER orchestrated a scheme to cause the fraudulent discharge of millions of dollars’ worth of student loans for borrowers who did not qualify for relief under the federal Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Program and its private analogue. As part of the scheme, SEEMER deceived over 125 borrowers into believing they qualified for various forms of student loan relief and charged them fees to facilitate their loan discharge process. She then used the personal identifying information of the unsuspecting borrowers to submit fraudulent applications for student loan discharge on the basis of non-existent permanent physical and mental disabilities. In support of these applications, SEEMER used the stolen identities, medical license numbers, and forged signatures of over a dozen medical doctors to falsify medical diagnoses and disability certifications. The scheme resulted in the wrongful discharge of over approximately $11.2 million in loans under the disability-based relief programs.
In addition to the prison term, SEEMER, 44, of Elmsford, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $635,352.
Ms. Sassoon praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Qais Ghafary is in charge of the prosecution.
Editor’s Note: The main difference between a nurse practitioner (NP) and a registered nurse (RN) is the level of autonomy and responsibility. NPs have more advanced education and training, which allows them to diagnose patients, prescribe medications, and make higher-level clinical decisions.
