Attorney General John M. Formella announces that Dorabela Medeiros, age 43, of Andover, Massachusetts, has been convicted of class B felony Medicaid Fraud – False Claims and class B felony Medicaid Fraud – False Records.
On August 1, 2024, Medeiros pleaded guilty in Merrimack County Superior Court to stealing $7,249.75 in Medicaid funds by submitting false documentation to two separate home health care companies in which she claimed that she rendered care to a Medicaid member in the member’s home. The false documentation included timesheets on which Ms. Medeiros recorded that she rendered home care on dates and at times that she could not have possibly done, because Ms. Medeiros was not at the Medicaid member’s home to provide the care that she documented.
The Court sentenced Ms. Medeiros to serve 12 months at the Merrimack County House of Corrections on the Medicaid Fraud – False Claims charge. All but 45 days of that sentence is suspended for five years upon Ms. Medeiros’s release from the House of Corrections on the condition that she remain of good behavior and comply with the terms of her sentence. The Court sentenced Ms. Medeiros to serve an additional 1 – 2 years in the New Hampshire State Prison on the Medicaid Fraud – False Records charge. This sentence is fully suspended for five years upon Ms. Medeiros’s release. As a condition of the sentences, Ms. Medeiros will be required to complete 100 hours of community service upon release and will not be permitted to seek employment with vulnerable citizens.
Ms. Medeiros paid the full $7,249.75 in restitution at the time of her sentencing.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Yourell and Attorney Connor A. Buchholz of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Financial Investigator Timothy Brackett and Investigator John Lannon, also of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, investigated the matter based on a referral from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ Program Integrity Unit.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and prosecutes fraud by healthcare providers who treat Medicaid beneficiaries. Healthcare providers include, but are not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, dentists, pharmacies, ambulance companies, and anyone else who is paid for providing healthcare services to Medicaid beneficiaries. If you would like to report a case of provider fraud, please contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at (603) 271-1246.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $987,576 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2024. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $329,191 for FY 2024, is funded by the State of New Hampshire.
Original source can be found here.