General Josh Stein commended his Medicaid Investigations Division (MID), the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the US Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General after Felicia Moore Jones was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution for conspiring to defraud the North Carolina Medicaid program. Jones was a New Hanover County social worker who used her access to obtain personally identifying information for New Hanover residents who were enrolled in Medicaid. She then shared that information with Lakia Washington, a licensed mental health counselor. Washington used the information to submit fraudulent claims to the Medicaid program and receive reimbursements for services that had not been provided to Medicaid recipients. The information Jones provided to Washington led to more than $400,000 in fraudulent Medicaid billing. Washington also pleaded guilty to defrauding the Medicaid program in March 2023 and is awaiting sentencing.
