Media reports are saying more than 150 employees have been fired or otherwise terminated in a multi-million dollar benefits fraud at Baycrest Hospital for Geriatric Care on Bathurst St. The National Post speculates it could be “one of the largest and longest-lasting benefits fraud schemes ever discovered in Canada.” It says the geriatric hospital released the staff members Wednesday for falsely claiming as much as $5 million in benefits over an eight-year period. “It appears to be organized,” said William Reichman, president and CEO of Baycrest Health Sciences. “It had to be done in such a way that it would escape at least detection by the benefits administrator… It’s a betrayal of trust.” As in previous scams of comparable size, such as the one discovered last year at the Toronto Transit Commission, this one involved misuse of prescription coverage for orthotics, knee braces, and compression stockings, but also physiotherapy. The Post account contains a number of hair-raising interviews with perpetrators and a police comment that there is unlikely to be any criminal action unless the hospital makes a formal complaint.
