Edmonton doctor sentenced to 4 years in jail for fraud
A doctor based in the Alberta capital is headed to prison for fraudulently billing Alberta Health Services more than $800,000.
Dr. Yifei Shi, 35, was charged last year in what police described as an "ongoing billing scheme" dating back to 2013.
The physician pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 and on Thursday was sentenced to four years in prison.
An agreed statement of facts obtained by CTV News Edmonton states that Shi billed for "psychiatric counselling on almost every patient that she saw" but often didn't provide those services.
Shi was initially accused of fraudulently billing the province up to $4.1 million in fees for service, but pleaded guilty only to overcharging by $827,077 in 2016.
Her total billings that year were $1,388,862. The court document states the average for general practitioners in Alberta in 2016 was $306,332.
Court of King's Bench Justice Paul Belzil also ordered Shi to pay back $827,077 in restitution, according to a story by CBC Edmonton.
Before being charged, Shi practiced family and cosmetic medicine at the Commerce Park Medical Clinic on 100 Avenue and 166 Street.
The doctor sent a letter to her patients last week advising them she was closing her west Edmonton practice because she couldn't find anyone to take over.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.