Florida Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Local Police Arrests Home-Health Aide for Fraud
By Space Coast Daily // July 31, 2021
Suspect created 247 false personal support invoices of more than $20,500 in services
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – The Florida Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, with the assistance of the Fort Pierce Police Department, arrested a St. Lucie County home-health aide for Medicaid provider fraud.
According to an MFCU investigation, Roselande Baptiste billed Medicaid for thousands of dollars worth of personal support services that Baptiste did not provide.
“This was a deliberate scheme to steal funds from the Florida Medicaid program in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
“Thanks to the diligence of the company for self-reporting this incident, my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigators were able to get involved and stop this fraud before more harm was done.”
MFCU received a complaint about Baptiste after the mother of a vulnerable adult could not secure respite care services.
Upon further investigation, the mother learned that Baptiste continued to bill for services from April 1, 2020, until Dec. 6, 2020, even after the mother requested to stop the services due to COVID-19.
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The investigation revealed that Baptiste worked as an independent contractor for Medicaid provider Light of Life, Inc. to provide services designed to assist caregivers with the daily care of vulnerable adults.
Instead, Baptiste created 247 false personal support invoices of more than $20,500 in services that Baptiste never provided.
When confronted about the fraudulent billing by employees of Light of Life, witnesses say Baptiste admitted to submitting the fraudulent documents and not having the authority to do so. Light of Life self-reported Baptiste’s wrongdoings to MFCU.
Baptiste faces two charges: one count of Medicaid provider fraud, and one count of scheme to fraud, both second-degree felonies. If convicted, Baptiste faces up to 30 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines.
The Attorney General’s MFCU will prosecute the case through an agreement with the State Attorney’s Office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
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