US District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced a man who used his brother’s identity to fraudulently obtain money from the Missouri Medicaid Program to six months of incarceration and six months of house arrest. Judge Clark also ordered Christopher J. Spencer, 46, to repay $56,173 to Missouri’s Medicaid Program. Spencer made false statements from June 2018 to February 2022 in connection with claims for Medicaid-reimbursed personal care assistance services. Spencer’s brother, who lived with him at the time, once provided him with personal care services, which can include housekeeping, meals, bathing, grooming and transportation. After his brother moved out in 2018, Spencer continued to submit, on a near daily basis, time sheets and Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) records falsely claiming that his brother was providing care for him. Spencer also submitted enrollment paperwork to the Medicaid vendor listing his brother as his personal care attendant and containing his brother’s forged signature. Spencer kept the debit card used by the Missouri Medicaid Program and its vendors to reimburse his brother and spent the fraudulently obtained payments on bills, rent, groceries, shopping, hotels and other personal expenses. He also used his brother’s name and personal information to obtain loans or advances on reimbursement payments from the Medicaid vendor.
