Former Employee Submitted Fake College Diploma To Obtain Job At CDS Monarch, Which Resulted In $25K Of Illegal Medicaid Claims
WEBSTER -- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that Akin Ross, a former Medicaid service coordinator at Continuing Developmental Services Monarch (CDS), pled guilty to causing $24,798.75 in fraudulent billings to the New York State Medicaid program after using a phony college diploma to obtain his job. When applying for his job at CDS, Ross claimed to have attended SUNY Brockport, a claim later shown to be false. While on the job, Ross CDS billed Medicaid for client services he performed, for which state Medicaid regulations require an employee to have at least a college associate’s degree or be a registered nurse.
“Patients count on services to be provided by qualified workers, not lawbreakers. Any amount of fraud, especially in Medicaid services, is unacceptable,"Attorney General Schneiderman said. "Protecting the sanctity of our public health care system is a priority of this office, and we will continue to pursue those who seek to undermine it.”
Ross, age 36, of Rochester, N.Y., pled guilty to one count of Petit Larceny before Webster Town Court before Judge David T. Corretore. He admitted that from August 2006 to March 2007, while employed at CDS Monarch, located at 860 Hard Road in Webster, he caused CDS to improperly receive Medicaid reimbursements for services Ross was not qualified to perform. As part of his plea, Ross will serve three years of probation and pay restitution to CDS in the amount of $14,934.30 for the salary and benefits he illegally obtained from them. CDS will pay $24,798.75 back to the State for the Medicaid billings generated by Ross.
Ross provided services for a traumatic brain injured person and for developmentally disabled persons. The investigation by the Attorney General’s Office revealed that in August 2006, when Ross applied at CDS for a Medicaid Service Coordinator position, he submitted a diploma indicating that he received a Bachelor of Science degree, Cum Laude, from SUNY Brockport in May 2002. The investigation further revealed that Ross never attended SUNY Brockport.
Special Assistant Attorney General Timothy McFarland of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s Rochester Regional Office is prosecuting the case, under the supervision of MFCU Special Deputy Attorney General Monica Hickey-Martin and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Kelly Donovan. Assisting in the investigation is Special Investigator Jason Rice and Special Auditor/Investigator Jennifer Harrison from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit under the supervision of Deputy Chief Investigator Thaddeus Fisher and MFCU Rochester Regional Chief Auditor Thomas Clarke.
