5 days ago
Warner Robins woman charged with defrauding Georgia Medicaid program for more than $5.4 million
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's Office announced Monday that a 62-year-old woman from Warner Robins was charged with defrauding the state's Medicaid program more than $5.4 million.
The Attorney General's Office said Elizabeth Sue Ivester is accused of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Officials said Ivester charged Medicaid for millions of dollars for durable medical equipment that was neither ordered nor supplied to Medicaid recipients.
In the indictment, the AG's office said Ivester, who owns and operates Liberty Medical, Inc., 'unlawfully used Medicaid recipients' identification numbers to submit fraudulent claims by falsely representing that one physician ordered 77,095 pieces of DME that were not ordered,' nor were they delivered to any patients.
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'The scale of today's takedown is unprecedented, and so is the harm we're confronting. Individuals who attempt to steal from the federal health care system and put vulnerable patients at risk will be held accountable,' HHS-OIG Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins said.
Ivester was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 14 and was arraigned on June 17, according to state officials.
Carr's office said the indictment was part of the National Health Care Fraud Takedown initiative and was also part of the state's own Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division's work in Georgia.
'Prosecuting Medicaid fraud is a top priority for our office, and we're proud to work with our federal partners in this effort,' Carr said. 'Defrauding Medicaid is the same as stealing taxpayer dollars, and we will hold violators accountable.'
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