HARRISBURG, PA — Eight people have been charged in Pennsylvania in connection with separate alleged Medicaid fraud schemes that investigators say caused more than $260,000 in losses, Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.
The charges were filed as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s annual National Health Care Fraud Takedown, a coordinated nationwide enforcement effort targeting alleged Medicare and Medicaid fraud schemes totaling approximately $6.5 billion.
According to the Office of Attorney General, the cases stem from multiple investigations conducted by the agency’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section.
Among those charged are Kyania Townes, 40, of Philadelphia, and Takisha Armstrong, 38, of Philadelphia, who are accused in separate cases of submitting false time records while working as personal care assistants, resulting in alleged Medicaid losses of nearly $180,000.
Investigators allege Townes submitted time entries totaling approximately $108,344 for home care services that overlapped with shifts she was working at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Jefferson Hospital, making it impossible for the Medicaid services to have been provided as claimed.
According to prosecutors, Armstrong submitted overlapping time entries for multiple Medicaid consumers, causing AmeriHealth to pay approximately $70,332 for services investigators allege were never rendered.
Prosecutors also charged Ghada Mahjoub, 54, of Jenkintown, alleging the licensed behavioral specialist billed for more than 500 hours of services provided simultaneously to two children in different locations and submitted falsified documentation for approximately $9,845 in services that were not performed.
The remaining defendants — Samantha Hall, 34, of York; Jennifer Coleman, 51, of York; Edward Green, 50, of Philadelphia; Teresa Geiger, 47, of Apollo; and Shaquil Veney, 32, of Philadelphia — face charges stemming from separate investigations involving allegations of billing or submitting time entries for services that were not rendered. According to the Attorney General’s Office, the defendants face various charges, including Medicaid fraud, theft by deception and tampering with public records.
The cases are being prosecuted by attorneys with the Office of Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section and are part of a coordinated national enforcement initiative.
All suspects, arrestees, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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