FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 2, 2026
Woman Indicted for Allegedly Using Fake Credentials
To Obtain Physical Therapy Job at Brooklyn Hospital
Defendant Allegedly Used Another Person’s License Number, Forged
Academic Credentials to Secure Employment at Kings County Hospital
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Nadia I. Shihata, today announced that a Yonkers woman has been arraigned on an indictment charging her with identity theft and other crimes for allegedly using a fraudulent physical therapy license and forged academic credentials to obtain employment at Kings County Hospital despite not being licensed to practice in New York State.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Patients place enormous trust in the healthcare professionals who treat them, and they deserve to know those professionals are properly trained and licensed. This defendant allegedly used someone else’s license number and forged academic credentials to secure a job as a physical therapist at a public hospital, potentially putting patients at risk and betraying that fundamental trust. We will aggressively pursue those who use fraud to gain positions of responsibility in our healthcare system, and I thank the Department of Investigation for its partnership in this case.”
Commissioner Shihata said, “New York requires physical therapists to be licensed to protect the public and ensure clinical competence. As charged, this defendant allegedly submitted fraudulent documents claiming to be a licensed physical therapist in New York State, have a doctorate in physical therapy from Columbia University, and a master’s degree from Long Island University. These alleged fabrications allowed her to obtain employment at Kings County Hospital. DOI will be making recommendations to strengthen Kings County Hospital’s hiring and employee background process. I thank the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for their partnership and commitment to upholding the highest standards for healthcare workers and NYC Health + Hospitals for its assistance in the investigation.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Diamond Walker, 36, of Yonkers, New York. The defendant was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew Blum on an indictment in which she is charged with first-degree identity theft, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and first-degree falsifying business records. She was released without bail and ordered to return to court on December 9, 2026.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, the defendant was hired as a physical therapist at Kings County Hospital on March 11, 2024, after submitting an employment application in which she claimed to be a licensed physical therapist in New York State. She also allegedly claimed to have earned a doctorate in physical therapy from Columbia University and a master’s degree in athletic training from Long Island University.
It is alleged Diamond Walker was not licensed to practice physical therapy in New York State, had never attended Columbia University and had not graduated from Long Island University. To support her application, the defendant allegedly submitted a fraudulent physical therapy license bearing another individual’s license number, a fabricated diploma from Columbia University and a forged document purporting to be from Kings County Family Court regarding a name change.
Walker’s employment was terminated on February 5, 2026, following an investigation.
At DOI, the investigation was conducted by Special Investigator Jasmine Singh, Assistant Inspector General Sean Hallinan, Deputy Inspector General Giovanni Liotine of DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for NYC H+H, and the NYPD Detective Squad assigned to DOI. The investigation was supervised by Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Michael P. Mullahy and Acting First Deputy Commissioner Christopher Ryan.
The District Attorney thanked Paralegal Jezebel Negrete-Ugaz, of the District Attorney’s Frauds Bureau, for her assistance on this case.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Gwen Barnes, Deputy Bureau Chief for Healthcare and Elder Fraud, and Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove, Chief of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of Investigations.
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An indictment is merely an accusation and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.