Owner of Home Health Agency Sentenced for Medicaid Fraud
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — 47-year-old Denise S. Marsh of Cleveland Heights was given a four-year suspended prison sentence today and ordered to repay $744,800 for forging criminal background checks for employees of her home health care business, Beta Services Inc. The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the office of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.
(PressZoom) - (COLUMBUS, Ohio) — 47-year-old Denise S. Marsh of Cleveland Heights was given a four-year suspended prison sentence today and ordered to repay $744,800 for forging criminal background checks for employees of her home health care business, Beta Services Inc. The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the office of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.
By falsifying Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) background checks, Marsh made it appear that her employees had clean records, when in fact many of them had criminal convictions that disqualified them for jobs in home health care.
Marsh employed the disqualified individuals to provide home health services to PASSPORT Program consumers and sought Medicaid reimbursement of these services through the Ohio Department of Aging. Beta Services Inc. does business in Northeast Ohio under the name Home Helpers/Direct Link.
“By forging background checks, this defendant deliberately put vulnerable Medicaid recipients in harm’s way, employing people with disqualifying criminal records in caretaker positions,” said Attorney General Cordray. “This should serve as notice that anyone who attempts to do an end-run around BCI’s background checks will be caught and prosecuted.”
On July 14, Marsh pleaded guilty to one count of theft by deception and six counts of forgery. Marsh is the sole owner of Beta Services Inc. The company also entered a guilty plea to one count of theft by deception.
In addition to the suspended prison sentence, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Kimberly Cocroft ordered Marsh to perform 200 hours of community service. Marsh and Beta Services Inc. are individually and jointly responsible to pay the $744,800 restitution.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and prosecutes health care providers who defraud the state's Medicaid program and also enforces Ohio laws protecting mentally or physically disabled or elderly citizens from financial exploitation, neglect and abuse in long-term care facilities.
Anyone who suspects patient abuse or neglect or Medicaid fraud can contact the Ohio Attorney General’s office at (800) 282-0515 or online at OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov. Media Contacts:
This news item was released on 2010-09-08. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for more information.
(c) PressZoom.com - Press Release Distribution Service - All Rights Reserved
