San Diego psychologist Roberto Velasquez sentenced to 21 months prison

June 25, 2013

On May 29, 2013, San Diego, California psychologist Roberto Velasquez was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.5 million for health care fraud.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Velasquez took kickbacks from patients to certify them as disabled. Velasquez admitted he submitted fraudulent reports to the Social Security Administration, falsely certifying that certain patients were eligible for disability benefits when he knew they were not. He also admitted falsifying certain forms used by the Department of Homeland Security during the naturalization process, allowing certain immigrants to avoid taking the English language and Civics portions of their citizenship exams.