Press Releases
02/20/2024
Enfield Woman Sentenced for Larceny in Medicaid Case
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Rocky Hill, CT) - An Enfield woman has pleaded guilty and was sentenced for defrauding Medicaid by billing the government health insurance program for unlicensed and unrendered services.
Marcy L. Taliceo, age 49, of Coolidge Drive in Enfield, pleaded guilty today 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)(4), a Class B felony.
The Honorable David P. Gold sentenced Taliceo to four years in prison, execution suspended, with five years of probation. The defendant paid $10,000.00 on the date of sentencing and was ordered to pay the remaining amount of restitution over the probationary period totaling $148,576.65. Along with the order of restitution, the defendant was ordered not to act as a provider in the Medicaid program.
An investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney determined that between 2016 and 2020, Taliceo was billing the state Medicaid program for services done by unlicensed personnel and services that were never provided. Taliceo was President, Treasurer and Secretary of Growing Potential Services, a Connecticut Medical Assistance Program (CMAP) provider that was enrolled as a Behavioral Health Clinician Group. Taliceo was in charge of all aspects of the business, including what services were billed, the assignment of cases and the hiring and firing of personnel. She employed several individuals who were not licensed to provide psychotherapy services and billed to Medicaid for those services. She also billed for and was paid for services not provided.
The investigation found that Growing Potential was paid by the Connecticut Medicaid Program for psychotherapy services by unlicensed individuals in the amount of $141,835.63. In addition, Growing Potential was paid a total of $6,741.02 for services that were not rendered when either clients were hospitalized or when Taliceo was out of state. The total in fraudulent claims submitted by Taliceo was $148,576.65.
The case was prosecuted by the Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received from the Connecticut Department of Social Services - Office of Quality Assurance, the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office, and the New Britain 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 Chief State’s Attorney’s Office at (860) 258-5986.