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Lowell
Sun - Dracut couple indicted in alleged Medicaid fraud: DRACUT
-- Prosecutors say a Dracut couple bilked taxpayers out of more than
$175,000 by defrauding a state medical-assistance provider program, but
the couple says they cashed the medical checks to pay their caregivers
in cash. A
Middlesex County grand jury indicted Anne Monterio, 60, and Jack Lucas,
55, on March 25, charging them with Medicaid fraud. The charges include
forgery, making a false claim to a government agency, making a false
statement for medical assistance, medical-assistance fraud by a
nonprovider, larceny over $250 and conspiracy to commit larceny over
$250. "This
is a shock to me," said Monterio, saying she had just gotten out of
the hospital when reached by phone yesterday. "Nobody told me this.
There was no fraud." Prosecutors
at the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said they were alerted to
the Medicaid theft allegations by the Bureau of Special Investigations
at State Auditor Joe DeNucci's office. The
couple is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Woburn Superior
Court. Monterio,
who qualified to receive at-home medical care under a state
medical-assistance program, allegedly forged time sheets from 2001 to
2007 for personal-care attendants, recording work that was never done,
according to prosecutors. Monterio's boyfriend, Lucas, also allegedly
submitted fraudulent time sheets from 2004 to 2007, according to
prosecutors. "Those
people worked for me the whole time," Monterio said. "I'm just
a victim of circumstances." Monterio
said she deposited the checks meant to pay her medical caregivers in her
own account, and gave them cash because many of the caregivers don't
have bank accounts or couldn't cash the checks themselves because they
had drug problems. When
asked why she would allow drug addicts to care for her, Monterio said,
"It did concern me, but there was nothing I could do about it
because I was so sick." Monterio
said she suffers from multiple sclerosis and cancer of the bladder,
which is spreading to her kidneys. She said she used the same method to
pay medical attendants who also cared for Lucas, who she said suffers
from congestive heart failure and high blood pressure. Prosecutors
are accusing Monterio of stealing about $132,000 in Medicaid payments
and Lucas of stealing about $43,000 in falsified payments. |
| Mailing Address:oseph DeNucci
P.O. Box 600252 Newton MA 02460 Office Location: 259 Walnut St Newton, MA 02460 Phone: 617.630.0600 Fax: 617.630.0625 E-Mail: HDQ@JoeDeNucci.com |
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