PITTSBURG – A pair of Crawford County sisters were ordered on May 22 to repay more than $3,000 to the Kansas Medicaid program after being found guilty of Medicaid Fraud-related charges, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
Amanda Forbes, 43, and Melissa Forbes, 47, of Pittsburg, each pleaded no contest in March to one felony count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program and one felony count of conspiracy to make a false claim to the Medicaid program. Judge Curtis I. Loy yesterday ordered the defendants to repay $3,116.83 to the Kansas Medicaid program. Judge Loy also sentenced each defendant to 24 months of probation. Convictions such as this one may also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.
An investigation by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division revealed that Melissa Forbes had billed the Kansas Medicaid program as the personal care attendant for her sister, Amanda, to provide home-based care services. The defendants billed for those home-based care services during periods while either Melissa Forbes or Amanda Forbes was incarcerated in the Crawford County Jail. The crimes occurred between January 2015 and October 2016.
Assistant Attorney General Alma Heckler of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.