TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a former certified nurse’s aide
was sentenced today for stealing money from
a 90-year-old woman who lived at the Meadow
Lakes assisted living facility in East Windsor.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Charlotte Moreland, 42, of Trenton,
was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Thomas
P. Kelly in Mercer County to four years
probation, conditioned on her payment of
full restitution and her exclusion from
any future employment as a certified nurse’s
aide.
Moreland
pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to theft by unlawful
taking. She admitted that on at least seven
occasions between Oct. 24 and Oct. 31, 2005,
while working as a certified nurse’s
aide at Meadow Lakes, she used the resident’s
ATM card without her permission. Moreland
admitted that she withdrew more than $1,800
from the resident’s bank account.
State
Investigator Anthony Iannice and Deputy
Attorneys General William Hoyman and Alvina
Seto handled the case. Hoyman represented
the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
at the sentencing. The Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor routinely investigates
fraud and abuse associated with the Medicaid
Program, including patient abuse cases.
“The
offense committed by the defendant in this
case represents not only a direct abuse
of an elderly patient, but also an indirect
abuse of the Medicaid program which is designed
to provide quality care for patients who
could not otherwise afford medical care,”
Prosecutor Brown said.
Prosecutor
Brown noted that people who have information
about insurance or Medicaid fraud can report
it anonymously by calling the toll-free
hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD
or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsuranceFraud.org.
State regulations permit an award to be
paid to an eligible person who provides
information that leads to an arrest, prosecution
and conviction for insurance fraud.
The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor is
the centralized state agency that investigates
and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance
fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.
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