Tamekia Hall of East St. Louis, Illinois Pleads Guilty To Medicaid Funds Fraud

 Press Release | Sept 26, 2014
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that on September 25, 2014, Tamekia Hall, 38, of East St. Louis, Illinois, pled guilty to submitting false and fraudulent bills in relation to personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. The investigation determined that Hall was falsifying time sheets in order receive personal assistant payments during times when the customer was actually in the hospital. Also, on today’s date, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that Maketa Davis 33, of East St. Louis, Illinois, pled guilty to submitting false and fraudulent bills in relation to personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. The investigation determined that Davis was falsifying time sheets in order receive personal assistant payments during times when she was actually working at Lessie Bates Home.

Both of these cases resulted from United States Attorney Wigginton’s emphasis on targeting those involved in the blatant theft of funds from cash-strapped programs designed to help persons in need. “These are just another two prosecutions in the long line of successes stemming from these operations, dubbed, ‘Home Alone.’ While not representing enormous thefts, the importance of these cases lies in the recovery of the funds and in the message sent to potential thieves – do so at your peril.” United States Attorney Wigginton noted.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the Illinois State Police’s Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau. These cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Hallock.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/ils/News/2014/Sep/09262014_Hall%20Press%20Release.html

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June 5, 2014 

14 More Personal Health Care Assistants Indicted

To date, 43 have been indicted

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (KMOX) - U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Stephen Wigginton announced 14 new indictments for alleged Medicaid fraud.

The fraud involves personal health care assistants who claim to take care of patients but do not, and continue to get paid through the program. So far there have been 43 indictments and 26 convictions.

It’s called operation “Home Alone.”

Wigginton announced 14 indictments of home health aids in nine different communities:

• Connie D. Evans, age 50, Belleville
• Quincy O. Gamble, age 39, Cahokia
• Jody R. Wooters, age 46, Centralia
• Felicia M. Gibson, age 47, East St. Louis
• Beatrice L. Randall, age 59, East St. Louis
• Charlietta M.Lee, age 51, Marion
• Tamekia L. Hall, age 39, East St. Louis
• Maurice L. Burks, age 43, East St. Louis
• Christopher W. Spivey, age 30, Olney
• Angel D. Jones, age 50, Collinsville
• Lawrence M. Thigpen, age 53, Collinsville
• Lakeshia W. White, age 23, Centreville
• Margaret R. Teriet, age 31, Mt. Vernon
• Maketa N. Davis, age 33, East St. Louis

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, along with up to three years of supervised release.

Wigginton said the Home Alone operations will continue.

“Many of these individuals just don’t get it,” he said. “They either don’t care or don’t believe me when I say we will continue to investigate and root out those defrauding the program.”

Those charged in the latest wave of indictments include four defendants where the personal assistant or customer were in jail during the times the services were supposed to be performed. In six cases the personal assistant or the customer was in the hospital. In one case the customer was dead and the personal assistant continued billing for months after the death.

“We will continue to do Home Alone rounds three, four, and five, I look at it this way, it could be round three of a 15-round championship fight, and I like fights,” Wigginton told KMOX.

There are some 20,000 personal health care assistants in Illinois. The cost of the program in Illinois for one year is about a half-billion dollars.

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