Two former Tallahassee mental health providers were indicted by a federal grand jury on over 80 counts of Medicaid fraud, false statements related to health care and aggravated identity theft to obtain over $250,000 from the federal government.
Stephanie Lynn Fleming, 42, and Helen Elizabeth Storey, 37, were arrested in Maryland after the grand jury returned an indictment on alleged offenses they committed while employed at North Florida Mental Health counseling center in Tallahassee.
They are scheduled for a Sept. 26 arraignment at the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee. An indictment is an allegation and not evidence of guilt.
The case is the result of an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of Florida Attorney General’s Office and the US. Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin M. Keen is prosecuting the case.
“Law enforcement works tirelessly to detect health care fraud and we will continue to use every lawful tool at our disposal to prosecute those who defraud public programs of their limited funds,” U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe said in a news release.
Providing health care services without a valid license is more than a serious safety concern, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in the same news release. It’s illegal.
“Our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit worked closely with federal officials on this case to stop health care fraud and protect patients,” Moody said.
Related: Former FSU Credit Union officer sentenced to 5 1/2 years in federal prison
According to the indictment, Storey, the manager of NFMH, was signatory on two accounts at Navy Federal Credit Union since August 2015. Fleming was added as a signatory.
The indictment alleges that beginning around April 15, 2016, Fleming and Storey submitted false and fictitious claims for payment and reimbursement to “Florida Medicaid and its managed care organizations for psychotherapy, psychiatric diagnostic evaluations and therapeutic behavioral services.”
According to the indictment, Storey made and submitted a false Florida Medicaid Provider Enrollment Application that falsely stated Fleming had not pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony, that she had no disciplinary action taken against her business or professional licenses in Florida and other states, and hadn’t surrendered a business or professional license.
Fleming then submitted false provider agreements and a false practitioner network application between March 2016 and March 2017, in which she falsely claimed she hadn’t pleaded guilty or no contest to illegal conduct within the past ten years, and had not pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony.
Fleming was a licensed mental health counselor from 2013 to 2017. She pleaded guilty to a felony count of making or causing false statements in violation of New Jersey law in 2016.
Together, according to the indictment, they submitted false and fictitious claims, making fictitious clinical notes and entries in patient charts to reflect psychotherapy, psychiatric diagnostic evaluations, and therapeutic behavioral services on dates no such services were actually provided.
They also used text messaging to coordinate with a person identified by their initials N.E.W how they would file false claims with Medicaid and split the proceeds.
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