In 2016, Dr. Yifei Shi billed Alberta Health for a total of $1,388,862. According to an agreed statement of facts filed at the Court of King’s Bench on Thursday morning, $827,077 of that amount was fraudulent. Xi claimed false charges that year for non-existent psychiatric counseling and treatment for hundreds of patients. “He would bill for psychiatric counseling on almost every patient he saw,” the court document states. “She did not provide psychiatric treatment to her patients in the amounts she claimed to Alberta Health.” Now 35, Shi was charged in April 2021 by Edmonton police with one count each of fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000. She pleaded guilty Thursday to the fraud charge. When Shi was charged, police alleged she had overbilled the Alberta government by up to $4.1 million in a fraud scheme dating back to 2013, but Shi admitted to committing fraud only in 2016. After Shi was charged, she was allowed to continue practicing medicine, but all monies claimed through bills were held in escrow by Alberta Health, amounting to $582,000 in actual restitution to the provincial government. Shea’s attorney, Kent Teschi, told the court Thursday that the family doctor put her own savings into paying office overhead and staff costs after her indictment. “In the face of criminal charges, he continued to work, knowing that money would be withheld,” Teskey told the court. “She serves her patients. They appreciate the fact that she has continued to practice.” Teskey said his client is remorseful. Court of King’s Bench judge Paul Belzil agreed that giving up that money was a sign of remorse. In addition to the four-year prison sentence, Belzil also ordered Xi to repay $827,077 in full restitution. The judge accepted a statement from Crown prosecutor Megan Rosborough that Shea’s crime is the largest billing fraud by a doctor in Alberta history.
“The only reason he did it was greed”
Rosborough asked the judge to sentence him to five years in prison, noting that at the time she committed the fraud, Shi had a happy family and was highly educated with a dream job that had high earning potential. “He committed fraud on a daily basis, often multiple times a day, over the course of a year,” Rosborough said. “The only reason he did it was greed. “We trust our lives to the doctors,” added the prosecutor. “We should be able to trust them with our money.” Teskey, Shi’s attorney, recommended a sentence of 24 to 30 months. “He showed grace with this appeal,” she said. “This is a very unique scam, but here is a very unique perpetrator.” He pointed to many of the victim impact statements that support Shi, despite the charge and her guilty plea. “He made me feel safe, cared for,” one patient wrote. “When I got the news that she was pleading guilty and closing her practice, I cried. I’m so sad to have lost her.” Si practiced family medicine at this west Edmonton clinic. (Craig Ryan/CBC) Another patient described Shea as “a kind, compassionate doctor with a great bedside manner,” but said the doctor writing on her chart and billing Alberta Health in her name caused her “a lot of worry and anxiety.” Other patients wrote that they felt betrayed by Xi. “I feel completely violated and vulnerable,” one patient wrote. Another asked: “How does a doctor intentionally harm someone?” Many of the patients said they felt abandoned at a time when it is difficult to find a family doctor. “Never in a million years did I think a doctor would do this,” one patient wrote. “Well, so angry.”
The medical license could be permanently revoked
A letter from a lawyer representing Shi in her dealings with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta was entered as an exhibit Thursday. In the letter, dated Nov. 9, James Heelan said a conviction would likely lead to the college seeking to permanently revoke its license. He added that if Shi succeeds in convincing a hearing panel that revoking her license is not justified, “then she will be subject to a long period of suspension.” In handing down his sentencing decision, Belzil called it a sad situation and an outrageous case. “We all know that the health care system in Alberta is in crisis,” the judge said. “What he did was for personal gain. “But what is so frightening is that personal gain has come at the expense of the health care system and individual patients … some of whom now feel very betrayed.” Xi had the opportunity to address the court but declined. Family members and former patients watched as sheriffs led her away to the cells.
