In early January a Shelby, North Carolina woman pled guilty to taking part in an $8 million Medicaid fraud scheme. Victoria Finlay Brewton, age 37, pled guilty to seven counts of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, as well as one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of filing a false tax return. She faces a minimum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, though higher fines and up to a 10-year prison sentence are possible.
The guilty plea comes after another North Carolina woman, Linda Radeker, pled guilty to similar charges earlier last year as part of the same crime. This scheme the two women engaged in, according to the North Carolina Department of Justice, lasted from about 2008 to 2012. During that time the two women, along with others, defrauded the government out of approximately $8 million by filing false Medicaid claims.
Brewton used her position as a child care worker in afterschool and summer care programs to obtain Medicaid enrollment information from the families of the children enrolled under her care. She then used that information to bill Medicaid for her services, telling the parents and family members of the children that the program was covered under the Medicaid.
Along with Radekar, Brewton charged the afterschool and summer enrollment fees as mental and behavioral health services even though she provided no such services to the children or their families. The two women then divided the proceeds 50-50.
