Two Personal Care Assistants Plead Guilty to Health Care Fraud

Two personal care assistants who worked for Advance Home Health, a personal care provider located in Brooklyn Park, have pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to charges related to health care fraud. Appearing today before United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen, Sabrina Marie Peterson, age 38, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Yesterday, Crecida Marie Cade, age 47, of Fridley, appeared before Judge Ericksen to plead guilty to one count of defrauding Medicaid. Both women were indicted, along with the owner of Advance Home Health, on October 20, 2009.

In her plea agreement, Peterson admitted that from September 2007 through October 2009, she conspired with others to defraud Medicaid, which provides medical care and services to low income people who meet certain income and eligibility requirements. Medicaid is a federal program administered in Minnesota by the State Department of Human Services (“DHS”).

The scheme, in which Peterson participated, revolved around submitting false claims to DHS to receive Medicaid payments for services never rendered. Peterson also admitted paying a Medicaid recipient who never received services in exchange for that person’s assistance in the scheme. In addition, Peterson admitted receiving paychecks from Advance Home Health for hours she never worked.

Cade admitted involvement in the scheme from January through March of 2008. Like Peterson, she also admitted receiving paychecks from Advance for hours not worked as well as paying a Medicaid recipient for participating in the scheme.

The owner of Advance Home Health, Daniel Patrick Osei, age 50, of Brooklyn Park, pleaded guilty on April 20, 2010, to offering and paying out a kickback to induce referrals to his company, all in an effort to obtain Medicaid reimbursements. Those referrals were for Personal Care Assistance paid by Medicaid.

The estimated loss due to this scam is between $200,000 and $400,000. For their crimes, Peterson faces a potential maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, while Cade faces a potential maximum penalty of ten years in prison. Judge Ericksen will determine their sentences at a future date, yet to be scheduled.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Genrich.

According to the Justice Department, health care fraud investigations have been growing, and the Department has formed a senior-level task force to tackle the problem nationwide. The Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, represented by the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services, will look at how to share more effectively real-time intelligence data on health care fraud patterns as well as critical information about health care services, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. In 2008, the Justice Department filed criminal charges in 502 health care fraud cases, involving 797 defendants.

In Minnesota, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is also participating in a home health care fraud task force with the Minnesota Attorney General Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The task force includes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and other federal, State and local law enforcement partners.