Three family members were sentenced for their role in an $87 million Medicaid in Pennsylvania, the Post-Gazette reported Sept. 28.
Arlinda Moriarty, 53, of Cranberry, and her sister Daynelle Dickens, 48, of Pittsburgh, ran four companies that submitted claims to Medicaid for services that were never provided according to the report. The companies purportedly provided meal preparation, transportation and other services to Medicaid recipients in their homes.
Employees of the companies fabricated time sheets, lying that they provided in-home services, according to the report. Employees also wrote down names of fake employees, who received kickbacks for allowing their names to be used. The sisters also paid kickbacks for those who participated in the time sheet scheme. They also submitted fraudulent paperwork to state auditors.
Ms. Moriarty was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $8.7 million in restitution. Ms. Dickens was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $1 million. Their uncle, Tony Brown, 65, was sentenced to three years of probation — including three months of home detention — and was ordered to pay $43,000. Mr. Brown previously admitted to paying kickbacks to his then-son-in-law in connection with the scheme.
Sixteen people were charged in the scheme, which ran from 2011 through 2017, according to the report. Fifteen have been convicted and one died while the case was pending.