Lombard Dermatologist Robert Kolbusz Sentenced to 7 Years for Billing Cosmetic Laser Peels as Cancer Treatment

Case from 2014–2015 (U.S. Attorney's Office latest release: Aug. 28, 2015). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Dr. Robert Kolbusz, a dermatologist who ran the Center for Dermatology and Skin Cancer Ltd. in Lombard, was sentenced on Aug. 28, 2015, to seven years in federal prison for billing Medicare and private insurers for treatments to destroy pre-cancerous skin lesions that patients didn't have, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1]. Insurers paid more than $3.7 million on the false claims, according to prosecutors.

How the scheme worked

According to evidence at Kolbusz's four-week trial, as described by prosecutors [1] [2]:

1. Cosmetic work, medical bills: Aestheticians in his office performed cosmetic laser treatments on benign skin conditions, including Erbium "lunchtime laser peels," that normally would not be covered by insurance.
2. Fake diagnoses: In bills to Medicare and private carriers, Kolbusz diagnosed large numbers of actinic keratosis lesions, sun-induced spots that can become cancerous, and claimed the procedures destroyed them, at up to $352.40 per treatment.
3. Repeat billing: He typically billed for removing 15 or more lesions from hundreds of repeat patients, falsely claiming to have removed more than 150 pre-cancerous lesions from each of about 350 Medicare patients and more than 450 Blue Cross Blue Shield patients, prosecutors said.
4. Ignored warnings: He kept going after a representative of the American Academy of Dermatology told him in 2007 that he was likely committing fraud, according to trial evidence.

One patient, a teenager at the time, testified she believed she was having her freckles lightened; her records claimed Kolbusz had destroyed about 491 pre-cancerous lesions, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois paid $4,597, prosecutors said [1].

The person sentenced

Dr. Robert Kolbusz, 58 at sentencing, of Oak Brook, Ill.

• Conviction (Oct. 20, 2014): jury verdict on three counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud; Kolbusz testified in his own defense [2].
• Sentence (Aug. 28, 2015): 84 months in prison and $3,764,381.69 in restitution, imposed by U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee, who said the offense "warranted a significant term of imprisonment" [1].
• Investigation: FBI, HHS-OIG and the U.S. Department of Labor OIG.

Red flags

• Insurance statements listing lesion destruction or "pre-cancer" treatments when you had a cosmetic procedure.
• Repeated treatments billed at high volumes without a clear diagnosis from the doctor.
• Cosmetic services described as "covered" by staff who aren't physicians.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Compare every Explanation of Benefits with the care you received, and ask your provider to explain any diagnosis code you don't recognize.
2. Report suspected billing fraud to your insurer's fraud unit and, for Medicare, to HHS-OIG at oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Dr. Robert Kolbusz, Oak Brook, Ill.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Lee)	Convicted at trial Oct. 20, 2014; sentenced Aug. 28, 2015, to 84 months; $3.76M restitution	[1], [2]

The sentence was imposed in 2015; we have not found a source on Kolbusz's current custody status.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "West Suburban Dermatologist Sentenced To 7 Years In Federal Prison For Defrauding Medicare And Private Insurers Of $3.7 Million," Aug. 28, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/west-suburban-dermatologist-sentenced-7-years-federal-prison-defrauding-medicare-and
2. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Suburban Dermatologist Convicted Of Cheating Medicare And Private Insurers Of $2.6 Million In Health Care Fraud Scheme," Oct. 20, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/suburban-dermatologist-convicted-cheating-medicare-and-private-insurers-26-million

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