TRENTON - Attorney General
Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director
Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced that two
North Jersey residents were sentenced today
for fraudulently billing the Medicaid program
for services that were never rendered or were
ineligible for Medicaid reimbursement.
According to Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Willie T. Cureton,
aka William T. Curaton, 39, of Newark, was
ordered by Superior Court Judge Robert Gardner
in Essex County to serve three years in state
prison. On Dec. 12, Cureton pleaded guilty
to health care claims fraud. Cureton’s
co-defendants, Kimberly D. Hall, aka Kim Hall,
aka Kim Turner, 49, of Scotch Plains, was
ordered to serve three-years probation conditioned
upon 364 days house arrest. Hall pleaded guilty
on Dec. 12 to Medicaid fraud. The charges
were contained in a Dec. 18, 2007 state grand
jury indictment.
On Feb. 6, Judge Gardner sentenced
Ollie Sabrina Kimble, aka Sabrina Kimble,
43, also of Newark, to three years probation
and ordered her to serve 50 hours of community
service. Kimble also pleaded guilty on Dec.
12 to Medicaid fraud.
Hall and Cureton owned and
operated Touch of Life, LLC, located at 61
Chelsea Avenue in Newark, and Kimble was an
office coordinator.
At the guilty plea hearing, the defendants
admitted that between March 2003 and May 2004,
they fraudulently billed Medicaid for personal
care assistant services which were rendered
at Class C boarding homes and residential
health care facilities. Medicaid regulations
do not permit billing for personal care assistants
and home health aide services in Class C boarding
homes and residential health care facilities
because such facilities are already paid by
the Medicare program for personal care services
for the residents.
Touch of Life provided assistance to patients,
including services provided by personal care
assistants and home health aides. Personal
care assistants and home health aides provide
day-to-day assistance to patients who are
otherwise unable to care for themselves, including
dressing and feeding patients, taking care
of homes, assisting with the taking of medicines
and related responsibilities.
The Medicaid Program, which is funded by the
state and federal governments, provides health
care services and prescription drugs to persons
cannot otherwise be able to afford such services
and medicines.
At a restitution hearing, which is not yet
scheduled, the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
will seek to prove that Hall and Cureton fraudulently
billed Medicaid for more than 60,000 hours
of services, and were paid nearly $1 million
by Medicaid.
Detectives Jacqueline Latty and Charles Wells,
Auditor Kim Geis, and Deputy Attorneys General
Riza Dagli and Linda Rinaldi were assigned
to the investigation. Deputy Attorney General
Rinaldi represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.
“Abuse of the Medicaid program and insurance
fraud by persons who hold professional licenses
are particularly disturbing crimes,”
Prosecutor Brown said. “Not only do
such Medicaid fraud schemes involve theft
of tax dollars, they also represent a theft
from a program designed to assist persons
who cannot afford health insurance or health
care services. Such cases are a priority for
the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.”
Prosecutor Brown noted that some important
cases have started with anonymous tips. People
who are concerned about insurance cheating
and have information about a fraud can report
it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline
1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting
the Web site 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 was established by the Automobile
Insurance Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The
office is the centralized state agency that
investigates and prosecutes both civil and
criminal insurance fraud, as well as Medicaid
fraud.
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