CAREGIVER PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUDULENT BILLING

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that former caregiver Demetrius L. Brunson pleaded guilty to one count of Medicaid Fraud for fraudulently billing the Medicaid program over a seven month period for services she never provided.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Thomas J.S. Waxter, Jr. sentenced Brunson, 33, of the 1100 block of Washington Boulevard, to two years unsupervised probation and ordered Brunson to pay restitution of $4,944.00.

According to the Statement of Facts, Brunson was employed as an attendant caregiver in the Maryland Living at Home and Community Choices program, a non-profit agency that assists those with disabilities to live independently. Brunson was paid to provide care for a program participant for four hours each day, seven days a week. Brunson submitted time sheets and invoices to the Medicaid program claiming that she provided services to this participant every day from August 14, 2002 through March 15, 2003, even though the participant had died on January 1, 2003, and even though the participant had been in the hospital for 30 days during that time period.

This case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

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