CUOMO ANNOUNCES ARRESTS OF ROCKLAND COUNTY MOTHER AND HOME HEALTH CARE NURSE FOR CONSPIRING TO BILL MEDICAID FOR SERVICES NEVER PROVIDED TO SICK CHILD
Investigation Used Undercover Video Surveillance as Part of AG's 'Operation Home Alone'
Yesterday, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced the arrest of a Rockland County mother and a home health care nurse who worked in tandem to defraud Medicaid of over $32,000, and then split the money.
According to the complaint, from October 2007 to May 2010, Anne Nellie Salvant, 68, of New Hempstead, and Michelle Timothee, 37, of Pomona, participated in a scheme in which Salvant, a licensed practical nurse, would submit nurses' notes and time sheets to Accucare Nursing and Homecare falsely claiming that she had cared for Timothee's disabled son. Accucare relied on these records to bill Medicaid and pay Salvant, who would then share the ill-gotten gains with Timothee. Undercover video surveillance was used in the investigation to establish that Salvant was not present at the home for the hours she billed Medicaid.
"The allegations in this case include a parent using her own child's need for medical care as a way to beat the system and steal taxpayer dollars," said Attorney General Cuomo. "My office will continue to do what is necessary, including using hidden cameras and undercover surveillance, to protect vulnerable New Yorkers as well as the taxpayer."
Salvant and Timothee are both charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony. In addition, Salvant is charged with three counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, both class E felonies. Both were released on their own recognizance pending a court date on October 13.
Attorney General Cuomo's ongoing investigation into the home health care industry, known as "Operation Home Alone," has used hidden cameras and other investigative tools to convict dozens of uncertified aides, registered nurses, managers of schools that provided false certifications, agencies that employed aides and nurses, and Medicaid recipients complicit in no-show billing schemes. In many of those cases, the aides and nurses were found to have been billing for services they did not provide.
The charges against the defendants are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Special Assistant Attorney General William McClarnon of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit's Pearl River Regional Office is prosecuting the case. The investigation was led by Special Investigator Timothy Connolly and Associate Special Auditor/Investigator Melissa Stoebling.