Attorney General Curtis Hill today recognized his office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) for its role in two recent Northern Indiana investigations leading to the arrests, convictions and sentencing of two individuals in connection with Medicaid fraud. The two individuals were ordered to pay restitution totaling $476,103.
MFCU worked in coordination with Northern District of Indiana U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II on the two investigations as part of a team including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane L. Berkowitz handled the prosecution of both cases.
“Exposing waste, fraud and abuse is part of our responsibility as stewards of the public trust,†said Attorney General Hill. “Our MFCU investigators work every day to recover taxpayer funds taken wrongfully through fraud and other illegal means. We must continue working to ensure that funds set aside to help society’s most vulnerable members are truly used for that purpose.â€
Additional details of the two recent cases are as follows:
- Jimmie Powers, 67, Monticello, was sentenced on April 2 by District Court Judge Philip P. Simon on his plea of guilty to health care fraud. Powers was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $280,480.93 in restitution. According to court documents, Powers billed Indiana Medicaid for inflated mileage when transporting Medicaid beneficiaries to and from medical appointments.
- Charlotte Hunter, 69, Gary, was sentenced on April 2 by District Court Judge Philip P. Simon on her plea of guilty to health care fraud. Hunter was sentenced to time served followed by two years supervised release and ordered to pay $195,622.09 in restitution. According to court documents, Hunter and her co-defendant billed Indiana Medicaid for services not rendered, inflating mileage for trips from Northwest Indiana to Indianapolis by approximately 100 miles per trip.
