FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Rocky Hill, CT) - A Colorado man was arrested today and charged with defrauding Medicaid by billing the government health care program for services that were not rendered.
Thomas A. Thurber, age 81, formerly of Meriden, Connecticut, and currently residing at South Ridge Road in Bayfield, Colorado, 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 each of Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community and Health Insurance Fraud.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Thurber was enrolled as a Behavioral Health Clinician Performing Provider under the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program, also known as CMAP. CMAP includes Medicaid and is part of the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS). The investigation found that between January 2017 and July 2020, Thurber submitted to Medicaid a total of 273 false claims in the amount of $43,993.93 for services that were never rendered.
The amount of money profited by Thurber in the amount of $43,993.93 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 Thurber containing false, incomplete, deceptive or misleading information constitutes the crime of Health Insurance Fraud.
Thurber was released on a $50,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court, G.A. 14, on January 3, 2022. The charges are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community is a class B felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Health Insurance Fraud is an unclassified felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
The case will prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in this investigation from the state’s Department of Social Services’ Office of Quality Assurance, the Connecticut Department of Corrections, and the New Britain Police Department.
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 States Attorney at (860) 258-5986.