Office of State Attorney
Dave Aronberg

15th Judicial Circuit
Serving the Citizens of Palm Beach County

Office of State Attorney
Dave Aronberg

15th Judicial Circuit
Serving the Citizens of Palm Beach County

Press Release

July 21, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marc Freeman

mfreeman@sa15.org

(561) 355-7263

State Attorney Aronberg announces conviction and sentencing of Drug Treatment Doctor Who Defrauded Insurance for More than $17 Million

State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced that Dr. Max Louis Citrin pled guilty today to 4 counts of False and Fraudulent Insurance Fraud (more than $100,000, 1st degree felony) for filing false claims with three insurance companies, totaling in excess of $17 million, from 2015 to 2018.

The conviction is the 75th for Palm Beach County’s Sober Homes Task Force, which has made 120 arrests since October 2016. Based on complaints that he was improperly prescribing controlled substances to residents of sober homes, the Task Force began an investigation in November 2017, including an undercover operation that exposed the fraud. Dr. Citrin was routinely billing insurance companies as much as $20,000 per patient for unnecessary allergy testing and treatment.

Most of the claim forms presented to insurance companies included progress notes and patient medical records that contained identical diagnoses and symptoms, patient background and even vital signs that appeared to be cut and pasted onto each record he submitted. There were 227 patients involved in the fraudulent treatment and billing scheme, many of whom never complained about, or suffered from, allergies of any kind.

Dr. Citrin was arrested on March 10, 2020, and re-arrested on February 25, 2021 for additional charges stemming from the ongoing investigation. Insurance companies paid Dr. Citrin in excess of $2.4 million for his claims.

The terms of the plea include the following:

30 months prison followed by 5 years of probation; relinquishment of medical licenses in Florida and California, $30,000 in investigative costs to the Department of Insurance Fraud and the SHTF, $2,459,289 restitution to Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana Insurance companies.

“Dr. Citrin made a mockery of his Hippocratic oath by cutting and pasting the same symptoms and vital signs for most of his patients so he could fraudulently bill insurers millions of dollars,” said State Attorney Aronberg. “Our Sober Homes Task Force will continue to investigate, arrest and prosecute those, like Dr. Citrin, who exploit people in drug recovery and put profit over patient care.”

Main Office Location

401 North Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Main Number: 561-355-7100
Fax Number: 561-366-1800
StateAttorney@sa15.org

North County Office

3188 PGA Blvd.
Palm Bch Gardens, FL 33418
Main Number: 561-624-6630
Fax Number: 561-624-6548

South County Office

200 W. Atlantic Ave., Ste 100
Delray Beach, FL 33444
Main Number: 561-274-1490
Fax Number: 561-274-1498

Belle Glade Office

38844 State Road 80
Belle Glade, FL 33430
Main Number: 561-996-4820
Fax Number: 561-992-1055

Criminal Justice Complex

3228 Gun Club Road
West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Main Number: 561-688-4640
Fax Number: 561-688-4646