(Rocky Hill, CT) - Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin announced that the Honorable Thomas V. O’Keefe, Jr. today sentenced Julian Cano, age 43, of Milford, to three years in prison, execution of that time suspended, with five years of conditional discharge for stealing from the Medicaid program by submitting fraudulent claims for work he did not perform and billing for more expensive services then his patients received.
The defendant was sentenced in Meriden Superior Court on one count of Health Insurance Fraud, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53-442, a class B felony. The defendant was ordered not to act as a provider for the Medicaid program and not to perform services that bill the Medicaid program. Cano also paid $123,087.10 in restitution.
By being found guilty of a program-related felony, the defendant also is subject to mandatory exclusion as a health care provider to certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulations. Medicaid is a government program that provides health coverage to low-income, disabled and elderly individuals, and is financed by both the federal and state governments and administered by the Connecticut Department of Social Services.
Cano was arrested on June 30, 2025, by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, between January 2022 and November 2024, Cano, an acupuncturist, was the owner of Julian Cano, LLC. Cano was enrolled as a provider for the Connecticut Medicaid Program. During this time, he billed for services not provided, as well as submitted billing codes for more expensive services than the ones patients actually received. After speaking to 27 of Cano’s identified 134 Medicaid patients, the Inspectors identified fraudulent billings in the amount of $123,087.10, for 24 of the patients interviewed.
The case was investigated by and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in the investigation from the Connecticut Department of Social Services – Office of Quality Assurance, the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, and the Meriden Police Department.
The Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,612,588.00 for the fiscal year of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $870,858.00 for the same fiscal year, is funded by the State of Connecticut.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at (860) 258-5986.