Latisha Harron, also known as Latisha Reese Holt, 44, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Timothy Mark Harron, 50, of Las Vegas, Nevada, worked together to carry out a massive fraud upon the North Carolina Medicaid Program by billing the government for fictitious home health services. They then worked together to launder the proceeds of the fraud into, among other things, a private jet, luxury jewelry and clothing, and properties in Ahoskie and Rich Square, North Carolina. According to the indictment, by 2010, Latisha Harron had created, and was operating, Agape Healthcare Systems, Inc. an alleged Medicaid home health provider, in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The indictment alleges that to enroll Agape as a Medicaid provider, Latisha Harron fraudulently concealed her prior felony conviction for Identity Theft. The indictment then alleges that in 2012, Latisha Harron moved out of North Carolina to Maryland. Despite that move, Harron continued to bill NC Medicaid as though Agape was providing home health services to North Carolina recipients. The indictment further alleges that in May of 2017, Latisha Harron moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to live with Timothy Mark Harron, and that the two were married in 2018. The indictment alleges that Timothy Mark Harron was also a previously convicted felon, and that this fact was concealed from the NC Medicaid on enrollment documents. The indictment then details how the Harrons worked together to expand the Agape fraud upon NC Medicaid, by fraudulently billing the program for more than $10 Million, just in the period between 2017 and 2019.
The Harrons searched publicly available sources, such as obituary postings on the internet by North Carolina funeral homes, to locate recently deceased North Carolinians. The Harrons would extract from the obituary postings certain personal information for the deceased, including their name, date of birth, and date of death. Then, utilizing the extracted information, the Harrons would then query the NC Medicaid eligibility tool to determine whether the deceased individual had a Medicaid Identification Number. If the deceased North Carolinian had a valid Medicaid Identification Number and was otherwise eligible for Medicaid coverage during their life, the Harrons would use that individual’s identity to “back-bill” NC Medicaid, through Agape, for up to one year of fictitious home health services that were allegedly rendered prior to the death of the individual. NC Medicaid then disbursed millions to Agape, all of which flowed into accounts controlled by the Harrons.
The indictment alleges that the Harrons carried out the fraud via the internet from locations around the globe, including their corporate office building in Las Vegas, their penthouse condominium in Las Vegas, a corporate office in North Carolina, and from various hotels and luxury resorts in and outside of the United States. The indictment further charges the Harrons in a scheme to launder the proceeds of the Agape fraud into various luxury items. These expenses included a $900,000 wire for the purchase of a British Aerospace Bae 125-800A private jet, hundreds of thousands of dollars in Tiffany & Co. and Brioni clothing and jewelry, thousands of dollars on Eastern North Carolina business properties, and thousands of dollars in gym equipment. The indictment also includes a forfeiture notice, seeking forfeiture of, among other things, a 2017 Aston Martin DB 11 sports vehicle, and a wine collection.
“This case represents one of the most brazen and egregious cases of home health Medicaid fraud ever seen in this district,” commented U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. “The indictment alleges a $13 million fraud that funded a gluttonous, social media-marketed lifestyle – one filled with private jets, penthouses and luxury resorts. Most reprehensible is the fact that this crime is alleged to have been carried out on the backs of our most vulnerable: the poor, the deceased, the elderly, and the disabled. Even in the face of a global pandemic, this office will continue its work to ensure that defendants like these will be held to fully account for their actions.”
