A mother-daughter duo has been arrested in Florida for allegedly defrauding the Medicaid program of more than $106,000 by billing for psycho-social rehabilitation services they did not provide to six assisted living residents as they had reported.
“I’m glad we were able to stop this Medicaid fraud scheme ripping off the taxpayers of Florida,” Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement. “Now this mother-daughter duo will have to answer for this six-figure criminal scheme to defraud a taxpayer-funded program.”
The state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Miami–Dade Police Department arrested Andrea Lozada Granados and Virna Granados last week.
According to an investigation, the two women billed Medicaid for psycho-social rehabilitation services reportedly provided by Virna Granados for residents of an assisted living facility. During an interview, however, according to Moody’s office, the Medicaid beneficiaries said that the defendants did not provide the services. In fact, the beneficiaries said that they did not even live at the assisted living facility as claimed by the Granadoses.
The attorney general’s office alleges that for more than a year, the women used the personal information of the six unwitting individuals to create fictitious progress notes and attendance sheets, in addition to falsifying other personal information, to fraudulently cause Medicaid to pay more than $106,000 for the services never provided. Additionally, the office alleged, Andrea Granados paid kickbacks to another employee to fraudulently bill for a Medicaid recipient who also never received psycho-social rehabilitation services.
Each woman is charged with one count of Medicaid fraud and one count of grand theft. Both are first-degree felonies. Additionally, Andrea Granados is charged with a second count of Medicaid fraud, a second-degree felony.
Each woman faces up to 30 years in prison and $30,000 in fines if convicted.
