Eight Face Charges in Alleged Minnesota Medicare Fraud Operation

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eight people accused in scheme to bilk the state’s Medicaid program out of more than $860,000 were charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court with a combined 46 counts of felony theft.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the alleged ringleader of the fraud, Trenea Davis, of Brooklyn Center, faces 11 felony theft charges. Authorities say she told investigators she recruited friends and family members to fake or exaggerate medical conditions to qualify for personal care assistant services. She then enlisted others to charge for services that never occurred.

Investigators said Davis reported working as a personal care assistant for more than 7,000 hours from December 2014 to May 2018, then switched to the role of a patient who needed up to 12 hours of care a day.

Court documents do not list an attorney for Davis.

“Minnesotans trying to afford their lives have a right to expect that every one of their tax dollars will be put to use properly. People who commit Medicaid fraud violate both of those rights,” Ellison said.