Psychiatrist Sentenced To Prison For Fraud Scheme To Fund “Lavish Lifestyle,” Nantucket Home

Gustavo Kinrys, a Wellesley psychiatrist, was sentenced on Friday, June 7th to 99 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after billing Medicare and private insurance companies for over $19 million in treatments he did not provide and using the funds to live a “lavish lifestyle” that included the purchase of a $2.1 million Nantucket home.

“This 99-month sentence reflects the seriousness of Dr. Kinrys’ crimes – his violation of the public’s trust in his position as a physician and his theft from the American taxpayers,” special agent Roberto Coviello, who is in charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a press release. “As we’ve proven here, those who exploit our federal health care system for personal gain will be brought to justice.”

Following a jury trial in October of 2023, Kinrys was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, six counts of false statements relating to health care matters, and one count of obstructing a criminal health care investigation.

Kinrys, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper and was also ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture in an amount to be determined at a later hearing.

Kinrys' $2.1 million Nantucket home described by prosecutors is located at 4 Goose Cove Way in Madaket. Kinrys purchased it in March 2018, according to property records. Following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Dec. 2020, the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston filed a restraining order preventing him and his wife from selling the property on Nantucket. 

“Dr. Kinrys betrayed the trust of his vulnerable and mentally ill patients and taxpayers to fund a lavish lifestyle including a $2.1 million vacation home in Nantucket and over $600,000 in expensive jewelry,” special agent Jodi Cohen, who is in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said. “The FBI will continue to work with our partners to identify, investigate, and bring to justice anyone who tries to steal from this country’s vital health care system.”

Kinrys was a licensed psychiatrist who owned and operated a business called Advanced TMS Associates, which was located in Natick, MA. Kinrys offered a therapy called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to patients suffering from depression, as well as psychotherapy.

Prosecutors described TMS therapy as a noninvasive method of brain stimulation that uses rapidly alternating or pulsed magnetic fields to induce electrical currents directed at a patient’s cerebral cortex and between January 2015 and December 2018, Kinrys billed Medicare and private insurers $10.6 million for over 8,000 TMS sessions to 74 patients that never took place. Kinrys also billed for over 900 face-to-face psychotherapy sessions he falsely claimed he provided while he was on vacation in locations such as the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and the Czech Republic.

With the proceeds of his fraud, prosecutors said Kinrys paid off a $1.8 million home in Wellesley, purchased over $600,000 in jewelry from Cartier, Van Cleef, and Tiffany’s, and purchased a $2.1 million vacation home on Nantucket.

“This sentence represents that health care fraud is not tolerated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Anthony M. DiPaolo, executive director of the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau, said. “The Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts places a high priority on fighting this type of insurance fraud which affects the citizens of this state. We appreciate the collaboration of our investigative partners in combatting fraud in our healthcare system.”

The scheme went deeper – with prosecutors adding that Kinrys made numerous false statements to his patients, the billing company he worked with, and the insurers he was submitting claims seeking reimbursement to.

When Medicare and private insurers were seeking records from Kinrys to justify his "exorbitant" claims, the investigators said he took steps to conceal his fraud by creating and forcing an employee to create fake patient records to send to Medicare and private insurers.

“Kinrys continued his obstructive behavior when, in response to a July 2018 subpoena from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, he created and produced additional fake patient records purporting to show patients had received dozens of treatments that never happened and which falsely represented that the condition of those patients was improving,” investigators added.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick M. Callahan and Christopher R. Looney of the Health Care Fraud Unit prosecuted the case, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.