Las Cruces therapist indicted for alleged Medicaid fraud
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The owner of Equine Assisted Programs of Southern New Mexico (EAP) in Las Cruces, which uses animals for mental health therapy, was indicted on Wednesday, March 5, for submitting false Medicaid claims totaling nearly $1 million, the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) said in a news release.
NMDOJ said Nancy Marshall is charged with 18 felonies, including one count of fraud, nine counts of Medicaid fraud, six counts of falsification of documents, and two counts of identity theft. If convicted on all counts, Marshall could face over 80 years in prison, NMDOJ added.
'Medical providers should be held accountable not only for their duties to their patients but should also be held to high standards when it comes to accurate and lawful billing,' said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. 'This indictment should be a powerful signal to anyone who thinks they can take advantage of patients and taxpayers: we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.'
NMDOJ said the case was brought to their attention after two key staff members terminated their employment with EAP.
These employees expressed concerns regarding improper practices that they witnessed while employed by Marshall, while also expressing concern for the patients of EAP, NMDOJ said.
The NMDOJ's Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau (MFEAB) conducted an investigation, and 'unveiled a multitude of alleged false Medicaid claims over approximately two and a half years, including allegations that the defendant was billing for services that were never rendered, billing for treatment of children who were actually in school at the time of the alleged service and committing identity theft by utilizing the National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers of other therapists for improper billing.'
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Politico
5 days ago
- Politico
Playbook PM: Senate GOP sets up a big split over Medicaid
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Yahoo
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Waterbury woman pleads guilty to stealing $360K in fraud schemes
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A Waterbury woman pleaded guilty on Friday to stealing approximately $360,000 through fraud schemes across companies in Connecticut and New York. 'Get out of jail free card': Kent Mawhinney accepts plea deal in Jennifer Farber Dulos case Marlenin Vito, 46, allegedly stole nearly $310,820 in about 500 fraudulent checks while working as a Medicaid coordinator in Stamford, according to court documents. During her time at the company, she was responsible for helping nursing home residents apply for Medicaid reimbursements, handling patient trust accounts and payments made on behalf of residents. 'Many of the residents were not healthy enough or mentally capable of tracking their own expenses or monitoring the balances of their own trust accounts,' a press release from the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut said. East Granby woman pleads guilty to $1.1M pandemic relief fraud For over a year, from about Dec. 2019 through May 2021, Vito allegedly forged signatures on the company's checks and lied about giving cash to the residents. Vito created and provided to family members false account statements that misrepresented the balances in the residents' trust accounts, according to statements in court and additional court documents. Vito kept COVID-19 stimulus payments and cancelled some residents' health insurance coverage to keep the money for herself, according to the press release. She was fired from the company. Man pleads guilty to trafficking fentanyl, cocaine in Middletown At her next job as a bookkeeper and scheduler at an alarm company in White Plains, New York, Vito allegedly stole about $23,558. Court documents state that she lied about overtime for herself and her daughter and ordered more than $10,000 worth of products with company funds. She was then fired from this company. At her next position as a bookkeeper at a law firm in Hartford, Vito allegedly stole about $27,179 by forging checks on the company bank account and keeping funds for herself. Vito pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which constitutes a maximum of 20 years in prison. She was released on a $25,000 bond and is pending sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 10. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is still investigating, along with police departments across Connecticut and New York. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
DeSantis admin pressures news outlet to stop reporting on fraud allegations
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' opposition to the First Amendment is well established: see for example his efforts to roll back legal protections for media outlets and to quash diversity measures at private companies (which earned a colorful condemnation from a federal judge back in 2022). But his administration's latest effort to shut down a news investigation into alleged corruption is uniquely disturbing, even by his standards. The administration is facing criticism from First Amendment advocates over an unsigned cease-and-desist letter from Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) sent last week to the Orlando Sentinel, demanding that the paper and its reporter Jeffrey Schweers stop investigating allegations of fraud related to a community welfare program spearheaded by Casey DeSantis, the governor's wife and potential Republican candidate in next year's gubernatorial race. As NBC News reported: The investigation, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald, centered on what the DeSantis administration did with money from a $67 million settlement with Medicaid contractor ... Desantis administration officials 'directed' $10 million from that pot of money to the Hope Florida Foundation, the nonprofit arm of an organization led by Casey DeSantis, according to records the group had to file as part of its nonprofit status. Of that money, $5 million was then sent to a group aligned with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and another $5 million to a group called Save Our Society from Drugs. Those groups then sent a total of $8.5 million toward a political committee led by [state attorney general James] Uthmeier that was working to defeat the recreational marijuana amendment. It's not clear how much of the $10 million went directly to the PAC. The governor's administration apparently wants the Sentinel to cease its reporting on the matter. The cease-and-desist letter from the Florida DCF accuses Schweers of 'falsely and with malicious intent asserting that the families are implicated in fraudulent activity by accepting financial assistance from Hope Florida Foundation' and claims that Schweers' 'threats and accusations were used as coercion to get the families to make negative statements about Hope Florida.' (The Hope Florida Foundation, as NBC News notes, is the nonprofit arm of the DeSantis' welfare alternative, 'which has a goal to steer Florida residents away from government programs and instead toward services from nonprofits and faith groups,' according to the Tallahassee Democrat.) 'We stand by our stories and reject the state's attempt to chill free speech and encroach on our First Amendment right to report on an important issue,' Roger Simmons, the Sentinel's executive editor, told The Associated Press via email, adding that DCF's description of Schweers' reporting was 'completely false.' DeSantis appeared to co-sign the agency's demand in a tweet sharing the letter. 'Bottom feeders gonna bottom feed,' he said. In a reply to the governor's post, Schweers asked why the administration hadn't responded to his public records requests. He's also shared social media posts from people who say he's done nothing untoward and accusing the administration of blatant intimidation tactics. In the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing by Schweers or the Sentinel, it certainly looks like DeSantis is bearing down on the free press to silence a story simply because it might portray his family in a bad light. This article was originally published on
