Physical therapist sentenced in $11M Amtrak conspiracy, one of 19 to plead guilty
A physical therapist in New Jersey will be heading to prison for her role in a fraud scheme against Amtrak’s employee healthcare plans. A U.S. District Court judge laid down the sentence on Thursday.
The judgment comes after Taejin Kim, 44, pleaded guilty on June 11, 2025 to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. As a result, Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark issued a sentence nearly a year later, ordering Kim to serve 12 months and one day in federal prison.
After release, Kim will also be subjected to two years of probation. She was also ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Kim and her co-conspirators willfully defrauded Amtrak’s healthcare plan by submitting claims for services that were never delivered and often medically unnecessary.
Prosecutors said in court that Kim allowed her physical therapy license and business bank accounts to be used as part of a larger scheme of fraudulent billing. In exchange, she received kickbacks.
Perpetrators of the conspiracy recruited others, most of whom were Amtrak employees who received cash payments to allow their insurance information to be submitted for reimbursement claims for physical therapy and other services they did not actually need.
Dozens of Amtrak employees have been implicated in the conspiracy, the DOJ confirmed. Multiple healthcare providers were also listed as co-conspirators, with kickbacks to employees alone totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In total, prosecutors allege over $11 million in fraudulent claims were submitted by providers—including Kim—throughout the course of the scheme. For her part alone, over $2.2 million in bogus medical bills were paid by the Amtrak health plan.
The scheme lasted from October 2019 through June 2022, statements in court revealed.
Confessions abound
In a statement, the DOJ stated that nineteen people have been prosecuted in connection with the Amtrak overbilling conspiracy. All of them have pleaded guilty.
The Amtrak Office of Inspector General, the Amtrak Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration all contributed to the investigation and subsequent prosecutions in the case.
Amtrak is a public passenger train service that operates all over the U.S. and parts of Canada.
The last update on the case came in January, where the DOJ confirmed at the time 12 individuals had been brought to justice so far, with six cases then pending. It appears now all defendants have pleaded guilty and have either been sentenced or are awaiting a hearing to decide their fate.
HealthExec’s coverage of that announcement can be found by clicking here.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.