Felicia Moore Jones, 52, was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to defraud North Carolina Medicaid of more than $400,000. Jones was also ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution. Jones was a social worker in New Hanover County who conspired with a licensed mental health counselor, Lakia Washington, to defraud North Carolina Medicaid. Jones used her government employment to obtain personally identifying information (PII) of New Hanover County residents enrolled in Medicaid, including their Medicaid ID numbers. In exchange for an agreed-upon fee per beneficiary, Jones then provided the PII to Washington, knowing it would be used to generate fraudulent claims for services never rendered. Investigators have attributed over $400,000 of Washington’s fraudulent Medicaid billing to the beneficiary PII Jones provided to Washington. Washington pleaded guilty late last year and is awaiting sentencing.
