Michigan Doctor Faces Trial for Alleged $400K Disability Insurance Fraud

A Michigan doctor was bound over last week in the 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills on charges stemming from an allegedly fraudulent disability insurance claim and subsequent years of receiving fraudulent payments, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nesse announced. She will stand trial in the 6th Circuit Court in Oakland County.

Dr. Rainna Furnari Brazil, 57, of Sylvan Lake applied for and received disability insurance payments from the Unum Life Insurance Company of America. Brazil, a licensed osteopathic physician, allegedly continued working as a physician while receiving over $400,000 in disability insurance payments from 2017 through 2021, contrary to the terms of her insurance. Brazil is alleged to have lied repeatedly to the insurance company, denying that she had been working as a physician for compensation.

This matter was referred to the Department of Attorney General by the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) Fraud Investigation Unit.

Brazil is charged with:

• Three counts of False Pretenses – $100,000 or More, a felony punishable by 20 years and/or a fine of $35,000;
• Two counts of False Pretenses ― $20,000 or More But Less Than $50,000, a felony punishable by 15 years and/or a fine of $15,000;
• Two counts of Taxes – Failure to File, a felony punishable by five years; and
• One count of Insurance Fraud, a felony punishable by four years and/or a fine of $50,0000.

The DIFS Fraud Investigation Unit investigates criminal and fraudulent activity related to the insurance and financial markets and works with the Attorney General and other law enforcement to prosecute these crimes.

Source: DIFS