Police: Too many billed hours equal fraud

A Springfield woman is facing a Medicaid fraud charge after investigators said she submitted time sheets to the federal government that, if true, would have meant she worked 24 hours a day for 32 days straight.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140331/NEWS02/703319975

Published March 31, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Police: Too many billed hours equal fraud By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield woman is facing a Medicaid fraud charge after investigators said she submitted time sheets to the federal government that, if true, would have meant she worked 24 hours a day for 32 days straight. Theresa Ambrose, 55, pleaded innocent Tuesday to a single felony count of welfare fraud before being released on personal recognizance. Ambrose faces up to 10 years in prison and fines up to twice the amount of money that was paid to her. Detective Virginia Merriam wrote in an affidavit that Ambrose was paid more than $9,000 in federal respite-care funds during a six-month period ending in January 2013 for services she was supposedly providing to an elderly relative. Merriam said investigators became aware that Ambrose had a full-time 8-hour-a-day job as a youth employment coach in Springfield. A spot check was conducted at the residence where she was supposedly providing care services, the detective said, and Ambrose was not present. Merriam said she obtained work records from Ambrose’s full-time employer and determined Ambrose had billed for 16 hours of personal-care services on days she had worked 8 hours in town. “Therefore, she claimed she worked for 24 hours a day on each of 32 days” that were checked, Merriam wrote.