SOCIAL WORKER CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING MEDICAID OF $92,000

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Donny W. Smith, a licensed certified social worker and Medicaid provider of mental health services in the Frederick and Hagerstown areas, was charged by criminal information with one count of Medicaid fraud. The criminal information charges that Smith, of Knoxville, Frederick County, from April, 2003 through April, 2004, pursuant to a continuing course of conduct, knowingly defrauded the Maryland Medical Assistance Program of approximately $92,000.00 in connection with a mental health services program administered by the Mental Hygiene Administration. Specifically, Smith is charged with submitting claims to the Medicaid program and was paid for those claims although he falsely represented that he had provided individual, group and family therapy to Medical Assistance recipients, when he knew in fact that the services were not in fact provided.

A criminal information is an accusation and all persons are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Medicaid Fraud is a felony and punishable by up to 5 years incarceration and a fine up to $100,000.00. In addition, Smith faces exclusion from the program as a Medicaid provider for a period up to 5 years.

The case is being prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. The MFCU conducted the investigation with assistance from the Mental Hygiene Administration (MHA). MHA has been working with the MFCU to root out fraud in its programs, and several cases of possible fraudulent behavior by MHA providers are currently under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office.

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