The previous proprietor of a house well being care firm – based mostly within the Cincinnati space – has been discovered responsible of fraudulently billing greater than $8.5 million to Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs (VA) over a six-year interval.

From 2015 to 2021, Sharon Romaine Ward submitted at the least 92,770 claims to Medicaid on behalf of Halo House Healthcare, and between 2016 and 2021, she obtained $8.4 million. She additionally admitted to concealing her possession of that firm as a consequence of a earlier felony conviction.

Particularly, that conviction – in 2013 – resulted from passing counterfeit and fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone whereas he labored as a nurse. Such a conviction would have made her ineligible to take part in federal well being care packages for 10 years, in accordance with the U.S. Lawyer's Workplace.

Ward additionally didn’t “present correct data to her enterprise tax return preparer, ensuing within the preparation and submitting of false tax returns.”

Halo House Healthcare not solely routinely overbilled federal well being care packages and charged them for providers not carried out, but additionally employed greater than 50 workers “with important felony histories,” which ought to have made them ineligible for the offering dwelling care providers.

One in all these workers was even charged with a quadruple homicide whereas working for Halo House Healthcare, in accordance with investigators.

Ward pleaded responsible this week to at least one rely of well being care fraud and one rely of submitting a false revenue tax return. The previous cost is punishable by as much as ten years in jail, whereas the latter is punishable by as much as three years in jail. The plea deal included a suggestion that the well being care fraud cost not lead to greater than 5 years in jail.

“The settlement additionally requires Ward to pay restitution to the Division of Veterans Affairs and the Ohio Division of Medicaid in an quantity to be decided at sentencing,” the U.S. Lawyer's Workplace for the Southern District of Ohio wrote in a information launch. “Ward additionally agreed to arrange and file corrected enterprise tax returns with the IRS and pay restitution, plus any curiosity and penalties. The IRS has assessed a tax lack of $81,617.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers, the U.S. Secret Service, the Inner Income Service Felony Investigation, the U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs Workplace of Inspector Basic, and the Ohio Lawyer Basic's Division of Well being Care Fraud , Dave Yost.

In March, discrepancies in dwelling care enrollment information raised pink flags at a congressional listening to.