(Rocky Hill, CT) - A Waterbury woman who worked as a personal care assistant has been arrested and charged with billing Medicaid for personal care services while the client was out of the country.
Carmen Berroa, age 61, of Waterbury, was arrested on October 31, 2025, by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. She was charged with one count each of Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-122(a)(3) and Health Insurance Fraud, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53-442.
The Personal Care Assistance Waiver program and the Adult Family Living Waiver program are joint federal and state-funded Medicaid programs which provide recipients who have permanent, severe and chronic disabilities, funds to hire personal care assistants to physically assist them with daily self-care activities that enable them to reside in their homes and remain in the community. The Adult Family Living program, which is funded through the Connecticut Homecare Program for Elders, offers financial assistance and support to family members or a friend who act as a primary in-home caregiver for elderly individuals.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Berroa enrolled as a personal care assistant for a program recipient in October of 2023. The program recipient then relocated to the Dominican Republic in December 2023. Between the dates of December 6, 2023, to August 6, 2025, while the program recipient was out of the country, Berroa submitted fraudulent time sheets and received payments totaling $13,153.59 for 243 dates of service she did not provide.
Berroa was released on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Waterbury Superior Court, G.A. No. 4, on November 6, 2025. The charges are merely accusations, and she is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community and Health Insurance Fraud are both classified as B felonies and punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The case was investigated by and will be prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in this investigation from the Connecticut Department of Social Services, Office of Quality Assurance - Special Investigations Division, and the Waterbury Police Department.
The Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,612,588 for the fiscal year of October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $870,858 for the same fiscal year, is funded by the State of Connecticut.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at (860) 258-5986.