St. Jude Home Care owner charged with Medicaid fraud

KILMARTIN IN  a statement said a routine audit found that St. Jude was submitting billing forms with what is alleged to be altered dates that fraudulently reported in-home nursing surveys had been conducted. / COURTESY R.I. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE
KILMARTIN IN a statement said a routine audit found that St. Jude was submitting billing forms with what is alleged to be altered dates that fraudulently reported in-home nursing surveys had been conducted. / COURTESY R.I. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE

CRANSTON – The owner and an employee of St. Jude Home Care have been charged in a Medicaid fraud scheme, Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin said on Tuesday.
Priscilla Pascale, the 54-year-old owner and operator of the Reservoir Avenue facility, was charged with five counts of Medicaid fraud and five counts of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud.
East Greenwich’s Orfa Lemaire, the facility’s 37-year-old director of clinical services, was charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud.
Prosecutors say that between 2010 and 2013, St. Jude placed unlicensed certified nursing assistants in patients’ homes and fraudulently billed Medicaid for approximately $785,000 in CNA services.
Kilmartin in a statement said a routine audit found that St. Jude was submitting billing forms with what is alleged to be altered dates that fraudulently reported in-home nursing surveys had been conducted. Investigators later found time sheets for billing that had been submitted by people who were not licensed CNAs.
Pascale was arraigned on Tuesday in Providence County Superior Court and released on $10,000 personal recognizance. A pretrial conference is scheduled for June 29.
Orfa will be arraigned in Providence County Superior Court April 28.
In separate actions, St. Jude’s federal certification was revoked on July 15, 2014 due to a deficient compliance inspection, leaving the company unable to receive payments from Medicare. On July 20, 2014, St. Jude was also suspended from participation in the R.I. Medical Assistance Program.

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