NORFOLK, VA—Doretha Selby-Diggs, age 41, of Portsmouth, VA, was sentenced today to five years in prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release for her role in a health care fraud conspiracy. Ms. Selby-Diggs was also ordered to pay $286,650 in restitution to the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Virginia Attorney General; John S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C.; Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Special Agent Sara Shalowitz, U.S. Department of Labor’s– Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, made the announcement after sentencing by United States Chief District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith.

Selby-Diggs pled guilty to the charge on November 25, 2014. According to court documents, Selby-Diggs worked for Progressive Counseling Services, LLC, as a qualified mental health professional responsible for providing mental health support services to Medicaid-eligible clients. In reality, Selby-Diggs did not provide such services, but rather simply signed false progress notes in order to support claims for billing to Medicaid. Specifically, court records indicate that Selby-Diggs signed progress notes that listed dates, times, and locations that conflicted with other progress notes and contained descriptions of counseling sessions that were identical to the descriptions provided in other progress notes submitted by other counselors. In one specific example, court documents indicate Selby-Diggs signed a progress note detailing a counseling session that she purportedly provided to a Progressive client here in Virginia, at a date and time when, in reality, she was on a Carnival cruise. Based on this false and fraudulent note, Medicaid reimbursed Progressive $182.00. In total, Selby-Diggs personally signed 1,575 of these progress notes causing Medicaid to reimburse Progressive approximately $286,650. The total amount Medicaid overbilled Progressive as a result of all of its activities was approximately $2,483,752.00, according to the court documents.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph L. Kosky and V. Kathleen Dougherty are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:14-cr-137.