Attorney General Tim Griffin issued a statement announcing the arrests of three individuals following investigations by his office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit:
“I congratulate the Special Agents in my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit on their recent arrests on separate abuse and Medicaid fraud cases. My office will continue to protect taxpayers from fraud and the elderly from abuse.
“I thank Special Agents Heath Nelson and Marcus Custer for their diligent investigations that led to these arrests. These cases will be prosecuted by my office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in cooperation with Sixth Judicial District Prosecutor Will Jones and 23rd Judicial District Prosecutor Chuck Graham.”
Hannah Christmas, 34, of Hamburg surrendered herself on a warrant for one count of Medicaid Fraud, a Class B Felony, on October 31. From August 2023 to April 2024, Christmas billed the Dermott, Hamburg, and Lakeside school districts $5,490.72 for physical therapy services that were never rendered. She was booked into the Pulaski County Jail on a $2,500 bond.
Ja’Layia J. McClendon, 28, of North Little Rock surrendered herself on a warrant for one count of Abuse of an Endangered or Impaired Person, a Class D Felony, on October 31. She was also booked into the Pulaski County Jail on a $2,000 bond. Two witnesses saw McClendon striking an 82-year-old female resident at a Little Rock assisted living facility suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, leaving bruises on the resident’s face and forearm.
Trey Franks, 28, of Jacksonville was arrested October 31 by the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department on a warrant for Abuse of an Endangered or Impaired Person, a Class C felony. From September to October 2023, five bank transfers totaling $1,086.26 were sent to Franks’ credit card account from a bank account of a woman residing in a Cabot long-term care facility. Franks was arrested in Little Rock and transported to the Lonoke County Jail.
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