Press Releases
02/16/2024
Hartford Woman Sentenced for Medicaid Fraud
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Rocky Hill, CT) - A Hartford woman has been sentenced for improperly using the identity of a Medicaid recipient and using that recipient’s identification, without their knowledge, to obtain medical goods and services for herself.
The Honorable Courtney M. Chaplin on February 14, 2024 sentenced Ebony Mayo, age 42, to three years in prison, execution suspended, with five years of probation. Along with conditions of restitution in the amount of $15,778.43, Mayo was ordered to not act as a provider in the Medicaid program, and to not have contact with the victim of the identity theft.
Mayo pleaded guilty in Hartford Superior Court to one count of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-122(a)(3), one count of Health Insurance Fraud, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53-442 and one count of Identity Theft in the First Degree, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-129(b), all of which are classified as B felonies.
An investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney determined that from March 2021 through October 2021, Mayo utilized the Medicaid number and personal identification of another party to acquire medical treatment and services for herself. Mayo admitted to using the identity and Medicaid card of another person to pay for her own medical visits and medications, even though she had her own insurance, in order to avoid co-payments. The investigation revealed that by Mayo causing the fraudulent claims to be submitted, Medicaid paid 93 claims for service amounting to a loss of $15,778.43.
The case was prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in the investigation from the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of the Inspector General, and the Wethersfield 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 $2,988,308 for the fiscal year of October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $996,099 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.