Buckeye Reporter

The owner of a home health care agency found guilty of Medicaid fraud was sentenced today in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced.

“Facilitating fraud under the guise of a business named ‘Loving Hearts’ is a sick and twisted irony,” Yost said. “Those who rely on Medicaid – and the taxpayers that fund Medicaid – deserve honest providers with kind hearts, not thieves in the night.”

Dorreetha Irby, the owner of Loving Hearts LLC of Columbus, was sentenced to five years of probation, a suspended 10-month prison term, and must pay $13,261.06 in restitution. In May, after a weeklong trial, she was found guilty of Medicaid fraud and forgery, each a fifth-degree felony.

Loving Hearts contracted with the Ohio Department of Medicaid and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities to provide in-home care to Medicaid recipients with developmental disabilities.

An investigation by Yost’s Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) found that Irby created false timesheets and routinely billed for the maximum allotted care hours, regardless of whether the services were actually provided.

The sentencing highlights the ongoing work of Yost’s office to investigate and prosecute those who abuse the Medicaid system. This work continues in three other criminal cases recently filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Lisa Laurent of Columbus was indicted on July 9 on one count of theft, a fourth-degree felony; two counts of illegal processing of drug documents, a fourth-degree felony; and two counts of forgery, a fifth-degree felony. Laurent, a nurse at a Columbus-area nursing facility, is alleged to have stolen more than 70 hydrocodone tablets prescribed to a resident and then altered records to try to cover up her crime.

Margo Willis of Dayton was indicted on July 9 on one count each of Medicaid fraud, theft, falsification, and tampering with evidence, each a fifth-degree felony. Willis owned Paramount Development Association, a Dayton-area agency specializing in providing mental health counseling to schoolchildren. An investigation by the MCFU discovered that Willis allegedly billed for services provided by unqualified staff members. Willis further provided false documentation to the Ohio Department of Medicaid and investigators.

Ahkee Ferguson of Akron was indicted on July 10 on one count of Medicaid fraud, a third-degree felony, and one count of theft, a second-degree felony. Ferguson’s business, The Light Recovery Center, also was charged with the same criminal counts. The Light Recovery Center is an outpatient drug treatment center in Cuyahoga Falls. After receiving a tip-off from investigators with the MCFU discovered that Ferguson allegedly submitted improper claims to Medicaid for services never provided to patients. The loss to the Medicaid program is estimated to be more than $850,000.

Indictments are merely allegations; defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.

The Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), part of the Ohio Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Section receives 75% funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $15,636,752 for federal fiscal year 2024. The remaining 25%, totaling $5,212,246 for FY 2024 is funded by AGO.