BOERNE, Texas – A Kendall County woman whose downtown Boerne medical practice drew scrutiny from law enforcement investigators has pleaded guilty to two felony charges, Kendall County court officials confirmed Thursday.
Catharina Hunter, 48, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25 after pleading guilty this week to charges of fraudulent use of identifying information and fraudulent securing of document execution between $150,000 and $300,000.
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Hunter, who is already in custody, faces up to two years in prison on the first charge and up to eight years in prison on the second charge.
Hunter was initially charged with three counts of practicing without a medical license in February 2019 after an investigation that began in 2016.
She was later indicted on fraud charges in 2021 after Kendall County prosecutors refiled the cases.
Hunter, whose aliases include Katinca Hunter, Katinca Lindeque and Katherine Hunter, is accused of using National Provider Identifier (NPI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) numbers of a pediatric surgeon in Chicago with a similar name.
Charging paperwork shows clients paid Hunter up to $20,000 for alternative medical treatments, including autohemo perfusion-minor.
The procedure involves removing a patient’s blood from one arm and pumping it back into another arm after it has been sterilized and filtered.
Checks obtained by law enforcement were written to Hunter personally, Hope of Life, and Hunter Ministries.
Texas Medical Board records show that in August 2017, Hunter and the board entered into an agreed cease and desist order prohibiting her from practicing medicine without a license issued by the Texas Medical Board.
A 2019 KSAT undercover investigation of Hunter revealed that she was seeking new clients at clinics in San Antonio and New Braunfels, despite not being licensed to practice medicine in the state of Texas.
Hunter’s attorney declined to comment Wednesday and said he would check with Hunter’s family before issuing any statements publicly out of respect for everybody involved in the case.