ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Friday sentenced a couple from St. Louis County for falsely claiming to have provided home care to elderly Medicaid recipients.
Qais Meraj, 33, was sentenced to two months in prison, two years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine and was ordered to repay $45,871. Judge Fleissig sentenced Aziza Meraj, 41, to three years of probation including two months of house arrest, a $5,000 fine and ordered her to repay $33,241. She was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
Qais and Aziza Meraj each pleaded guilty June 8 to one count of making false statements to the Medicaid program. They admitted to defrauding the Missouri Medicaid program MO HealthNet by falsely claiming to have provided personal care services for multiple Medicaid clients from February 2019 to March 2021. As a result, Medicaid was billed for services that were never provided.
The Merajs forged clients’ initials and submitted time sheets that falsely represented that they provided personal care services to one couple when the Merajs were out of the country.
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