New Britain Woman Charged in Scheme to Defraud Medicaid

A New Britain woman was arrested today and charged with fraudulently billing Medicaid for care she claimed to have provided to a Rocky Hill man, including at a time when she was out of the country on vacation.

CLARA RIVERA COLON, age 41, of Mason Drive, New Britain, was arrested by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney on a warrant charging her with one count each of Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community and Health Insurance Fraud.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Rivera Colon submitted fraudulent billings claiming she had rendered in-home care in for a disabled relative during periods of time when Rivera Colon was either actually employed elsewhere or on vacation outside the United States.

Rivera Colon was employed by the Personal Care Assistance (PCA) program, which is a federal and state funded Medicaid program that provides funds to allow disabled adults to hire assistants for daily care, thus enabling the individual to remain at home instead of being placed in a health care facility.

According to the arrest warrant, Rivera Colon was paid about $33,932 for bogus claims between June 2014 and May 2016. The alleged scheme unraveled when another relative discovered that Rivera Colon’s social media posts revealed that she could not have been present to provide the care for which she was paid.

Rivera Colon was released on $50,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court, G.A. No. 14, on May 23, 2019. The charges are merely accusations and she is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community and Conspiracy to Commit Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community are class B felonies 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 be prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The investigation is continuing and additional arrests are expected. The unit is grateful for the assistance it received in this investigation from the state Department of Social Services Office of Quality Assurance and the New Britain Police Department.