When you name your company “A Plus” anything, you’re setting the bar pretty high for yourself. But in today’s case, the owners of the company earned themselves an “F” for fraud. According to a press release recently published by the Florida Attorney General’s Office, a husband and wife team in Palm Beach was caught using their medical equipment supply company (the so-called A Plus Medical Equipment and Supply, Inc.) to bill Medicaid for services and equipment that they had promised to handicapped recipients—specifically, severely disabled children—but never provided.
This cheating couple went only half the distance to service their Medicaid clientele, when the husband “engaged in a campaign” to mislead the caretakers of young, disabled recipients, having them believe that they could expect shipments of essential equipment, such as wheelchairs and bath chairs. He went so far as to visit with patients to measure them for their anticipated, life-improving accessories. Then he billed Medicaid for services and equipment, but failed to deliver anything to the clients. (He deserves a slap on the wrist) Reportedly, although she knew exactly what he was up to, his wife chose to do nothing about it.
An investigation by the Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit revealed that the offenders defrauded Medicaid of more than $40,000 for equipment that their company never provided. Subsequently, each was found guilty of two second-degree felony charges—one count of Medicaid fraud and one count of grand theft. The husband was sentenced to less than two years in prison, followed by another four years of probation; the wife received six years of probation with two years of community control; and both were ordered to pay restitution for the total amount of money they stole, in addition to related fines. (Given that they faced up to 30 years in prison for these crimes, these fraudsters are fortunate to have been graded on a curve).
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