Press Releases
11/28/2023
Middletown Woman Charged in Scheme to Defraud Medicaid
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Rocky Hill, CT) – A Middletown woman has been arrested and charged with submitting false claims to the Connecticut Medicaid Health Insurance Program.
Darlene (Dailey) Shuff-Porter, age 64, of Middletown, was arrested today by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, and charged with one count of Health Insurance Fraud and one count of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, between December 2018 and April 2020, Shuff-Porter, a licensed Behavioral Health Clinician, and owner of Dailey Professional Counseling Services, LLC, located in Meriden, billed for psychotherapy services that were not rendered. Evidence acquired through an investigation showed that Dailey Professional Counseling Services, LLC was not meeting with clients as reported. However, she was submitting claims to the state Department of Social Services for payment. In addition, she was utilizing unlicensed employees to meet with clients, and then billing as if licensed-qualified services were provided. The investigation concluded that Shuff-Porter fraudulently billed Medicaid and received an amount of $55,410.69 in Medicaid payments she was not entitled to.
The money profited by her in the amount of $55,410.69 constitutes the crime of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community. The submission of claims to the Department of Social Services provided by Shuff-Porter contained false, incomplete, deceptive or misleading information which constitutes Health Insurance Fraud.
Shuff-Porter was released on a $50,000 non-surety bond. She is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court, G.A. No. 14, on December 7, 2023. The charges are merely accusations and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Health Insurance Fraud and Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community are each classified as a B Felony and punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The case will be prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in the investigation from the State Department of Social Services - Office of Quality Assurance, The Office of Inspector General Division of Health and Human Services, 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 Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at (860) 258-5986.