Georgia Chiropractor, Office Manager Charged With Insurance Fraud

July 21, 2005

A state grand jury has charged a Macon, Ga. chiropractor and her office manager with 15 counts of filing false treatment claims to six insurance companies according to Geogria Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine's office.

Lori Ugolik was charged with 10 counts of insurance fraud, while Etheridge, was charged with five counts of conspiring to defraud insurance companies by submitting false claims of chiropractic treatment and services, according to a release from Oxendine's office.
Ugolik operates Ugolik Chiropractic Services at 618 Shurling Drive in Macon.

Glenn Allen, a spokesman for Oxendine's office, said investigators informed him that Ugolik has made arrangements to turn herself in to Bibb County authorities. Allen said he did not know when Ugolik would meet with law enforcement. Jonathan Adams, a Bibb County assistant district attorney, is handling the case, Allen said.

Allen said the Georgia Commissioner of Insurance Office began investigating Ugolik and her office's insurance claim filings in 2002, following a complaint.

In July 2002, Ugolik's attorneys filed a motion in Bibb County Superior Court seeking the items seized during a May 2002 raid be returned to her business. In 2002, Oxendine's office asked the court to allow a search of Ugolik's business for several items, including medical files, insurance claims, payroll records and computers used for billing and filing claims.

Charges stem from insurance filings made between January 2000 and March 2001, according to Oxendine's news release. The release stated that the claims total $20,000, of which $10,000 allegedly was paid to Ugolik.

Allen said each count of insurance fraud carries a penalty of two to 10 years in prison or a maximum fine of $10,000.