Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced on December 5, 2023, that the Statewide Grand Jury had returned indictments of 16 counts against a Medicaid consultant who stole thousands of dollars from elderly victims, her employer, and a local bank.
The defendant was indicted by the Statewide Grand Jury on 16 counts, including three (3) counts of Larceny over $250 from a person over 60, six (6) counts of Forgery, three (3) counts of Uttering False Statements, two (2) counts of Larceny over $1,200 from two local small businesses, one (1) count of Attempted Larceny over $250 From an Elder, and one (1) count of attempted larceny over $1200 from a business.
During the alleged acts, the defendant was employed as a Medicaid consultant, and she regularly assisted elderly residents of various nursing homes to complete applications for MassHealth. As part of the process of assisting elderly residents to apply and become eligible for MassHealth, the AG’s Office alleges that the defendant was able to readily gain access to residents’ financial information.
The AG’s investigation found that, since at least 2022, the defendant engaged in a scheme to steal money from at least three elderly nursing home victims. She allegedly forged multiple signatures to grant herself a false durable power of attorney (POA), then used the false POA to access and steal from one victim’s bank accounts. She also allegedly wrote false checks from her victims to herself, in the sum of tens of thousands of dollars.
Additionally, the AG’s Office found that, during the defendant’s employment with a Medicaid consulting company, she also used the company’s credit card to complete unauthorized online retail purchases that were delivered to her residential address and intended for her personal use. The defendant’s employment with the Medicaid consulting company was ultimately terminated.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
F602 in the State Operations Manual, Appendix PP, states that residents have the right to be free from abuse, neglect, and misappropriation of resident property. Someone with a legal obligation to handle a resident’s finances may fail to use the funds for necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare, putting the resident at risk of harm. People with legal obligations to handle finances include fiduciaries such as agents under power of attorney, trustees, guardians, conservators, Social Security representative payees, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fiduciaries. If family or other individuals step in to manage a resident’s finances, some may try to take money or assets for themselves, which can seriously impact the resident’s finances and may result in an inability to pay their nursing home or assisted living community bills. A facility is required to report any allegations of misappropriation or exploitation of a resident’s funds or personal property to the State Agency and to appropriate local authorities.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies on misappropriation of residents’ belongings or funds. Also review your policies and procedures for working with residents’ Medicaid consultants and financial caregivers. Ensure that your policies are reviewed at least annually and updated when new information becomes available.
- Train all staff about abuse, neglect, and exploitation of residents, including misappropriation of personal belongings or funds. Also train appropriate staff to monitor payments to the nursing home or assisted living community, as unpaid bills may be a result of financial abuse of the resident. Document that the training occurred, and place the signed document in each employee’s education file.
- Audit to ensure that residents’ bills are being paid, and that resident financial caregiver documentation is on file, such as copies of a POA instrument, Social Security representative payee authorization, or a guardianship court order. Staff should be aware of compliance and ethics concerns and understand their responsibility to report any violations to their supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or via the anonymous hotline.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
