Woman charged with posing as psychologist

An Atlantic Beach woman has been arrested and charged with posing as a psychologist, in one case "treating" a car accident victim and charging the insurance company Geico more than $3,400 for her services.

Amora Rachelle, 35, who recently moved to Los Angeles, was arrested in Westbury on Tuesday by investigators for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice and charged with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree falsifying business records, first-degree scheme to defraud, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and unauthorized practice, prosecutors said.

Rachelle faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the highest charge. She is being held on $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash and is back in court Friday.

Her lawyer, Steven DelVecchio of Garden City, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

"The real victims in this case are Rachelle's unsuspecting patients who thought they were being treated by a licensed professional," Rice said. "Unfortunately, they were being strung along by a con artist who built her medical practice on lies and greed."

Rice said that between 2008 and 2010, Rachelle treated patients in her home even though she didn't have a license to do so.

In addition, in February 2009, Rachelle, who then had a limited permit and was qualified only to practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, lied to the New York State Courts on an unsuccessful application for a position on a panel of court-appointed psychologists, prosecutors said.

She continued to illegally treat patients in December 2009 after being denied a full license by the New York State Department of Education, Office of the Professions, prosecutors said.

After she had treated patients for three months, Rachelle refused to give the patients the needed diagnostic codes so that they could get reimbursement from their insurance companies, causing the patients to pay more than $8,000 out of pocket, prosecutors said.

The New York State Education Department, Office of Professional Discipline, referred the case to Rice after conducting its own investigation, prosecutors said.