NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A licensed drug and alcohol counselor from Connecticut defrauded Medicaid of more than $100,000 in part by filing fake claims for services to patients who were in the hospital, imprisoned or even dead, authorities said Wednesday.
Ethel Bethea, 56, of New Haven, was charged Tuesday with first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud and 15 counts of third-degree identity theft, the state Division of Criminal Justice said in a release.
She is free on $150,000 bond pending a court appearance scheduled for March 6. No defense attorney was listed in court records.
Her billing to the Medicaid program was audited by the Department of Social Services, which turned up “irregularities” and led to further investigation, officials said.
Bethea billed Medicaid for 10 patients who were hospitalized at the time she said she was counseling them in her office, for a patient who had died in a car crash, and another patient who was in jail on the dates she allegedly provided counseling, authorities said.
The warrant in the case also alleged Bethea billed for services she claimed to have provided when she actually was on a cruise to the Bahamas.
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