Health Care Fraud Defendant Pled Guilty Wine Cited Now Gets 18 Months

Health Care Fraud Defendant Pled Guilty Wine Cited Now Gets 18 Months by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, March 2 – A dozen defendants were indicted for health care fraud; on February 25, 2025 defendant Laqui pled guilty to count 1, with sentencing set for September 16.  Inner City Press is covering the case.   The indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York describes fraud in the provision of and reimbursement for physical therapy and acupuncture services, including cash kickbacks and "the purchase of wine." On October 23 on co-defendant Hongxing Wang the US Attorney's Office asked for 15 months on October 30. Wang was sentenced to a year and a day. On November 6 the US Attorney's Office wrote in asking for 30 months on co-defendant Laqui on November 13. On November 12 Laqui wrote in that "I had a hard life in the Philippines and when I first came here I shared a bedroom with my sister. When Ms. Liu approached me, I knew it was wrong..." He is asking for time served. He got 14 months. On February 11, 2026, the lead named defendant submitted a heavily redacted request for a non incarceratory sentence on February 25. Docketed on March 2, he got 18 months.   The overall case is USA v. Liu, et al., 1:21-cr-592 (Swain) *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com