(Rocky Hill, CT) - A Wethersfield woman has been arrested and charged with submitting fraudulent claims to Medicaid.
Ivette Betancourt, age 60, of Wethersfield, was arrested on October 22, 2025, by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney and charged with one count of Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-122(a)(3), and one count of Health Insurance Fraud, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53-442.
Betancourt is a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist enrolled as a provider in the Connecticut Medicaid Program. The arrest warrant affidavit reports that between October 2020 and June 2025, Betancourt billed Medicaid for therapy sessions that did not take place. Inspectors interviewed and / or reviewed patient records for 38 out of Betancourt’s 138 Medicaid patients and found numerous claims for counseling sessions that were not performed. Betancourt submitted claims to Medicaid for these unrendered sessions and as a result of her fraudulent billings, she received $141,087.35 in Medicaid payments she was not entitled to.
The money profited by Betancourt in the amount of $141,087.35 constitutes the crime of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community. The submission of claims to the Department of Social Services by Betancourt containing false, incomplete, deceptive or misleading information constitutes the crime of Health Insurance Fraud. 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.
Betancourt was released on a $10,000.00 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court, G.A. No. 15, on December 17, 2025. The charges are merely accusations, and she is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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 Newington 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.