It never ceases to amaze how willing and able criminals are to commit fraud. (Money is usually the driver.) A Baltimore, Maryland woman was so willing and able to commit Medicaid fraud that she used her grandmother to carry out her devious scheme.
The young woman from Baltimore used her mother’s company, Abel Health Care, to scam the government healthcare program. For a little more than two years, the woman purportedly provided personal care services for her grandmother through her mother’s Towson-based home healthcare company. (Medicaid received the bill for those services, which included assistance with grooming, bathing, toileting, dressing and giving medicine.)
There’s just one little problem. The granddaughter was just pretending to be caring for her grandmother. (Since the granddaughter is a grown woman, you can’t exactly say she was playing “make believe.”) She was actually working another job in Baltimore County at the time she claimed she was assisting her grandmother. (I wonder if Granny knew all about the scheme or was an innocent victim?)
The 25-year-old Baltimore woman was convicted of Medicaid fraud for submitting fraudulent claims stating she had provided personal care for her grandmother. Lucky for her, the granddaughter’s sentence of one year in prison was suspended. Instead, she received a sentence of three years of probation. She must also pay $29,000 in restitution to Medicaid.
Just as this young woman from Maryland was willing and able to commit fraud to make some extra cash at the expense of her grandmother, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is also willing and able to go after those who try to steal benefits meant for the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
Today’s “Fraud of the Day” is based on an article, “Baltimore City Woman Sentenced For Faking Care For Her Grandmother To Medicaid,” posted on Baltimore.cbslocal.com on August 19, 2019.
A 25-year-old woman was convicted of felony Medicaid fraud in which she pretended to be caring for her grandmother for several years.
Mariah Larease Moore is sentenced to one-year incarceration, all suspended and is on three years of probation- along with paying back $29,000 to the Medicaid program in restitution
