Illinois State Police (ISP) officials announce the felony conviction of Timothy W. Morrison, age 39 from Mount Carmel, for Vendor Fraud, a class 1 felony. Morrison pled guilty to the charge on April 4, 2017, in Wabash County.
An investigation by the ISP Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau (MFCB) revealed Morrison worked as a Personal Assistant (PA) for the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Home Services Program (HSP). The HSP allows for a PA to provide assistance to a Medicaid recipient while the recipient is in their home and not in a hospital or nursing home. The investigation determined Morrison billed, and was paid for, several days of home care services while he was incarcerated and while the recipient was hospitalized. In addition, Morrison submitted time sheets and received payment for services which were never rendered to the recipient.
“The Medicaid program is designed to help our state’s most vulnerable citizens,” stated ISP Director Leo P. Schmitz. “It’s disturbing when people fraudulently bill for Medicaid funded services. The ISP will continue to investigate these cases to send a message that we are monitoring how Medicaid dollars are being spent; all in an effort to deter future criminal acts against the Medicaid program,” Schmitz continued.
Captain Brian Ley, Commander of the ISP MFCB, serves as a member of Governor Rauner’s Health Care Fraud Elimination Task Force. The task force was created in April 2016 to look strategically and comprehensively into fraud, waste, and abuse in taxpayer funded health care systems.
The MFCB works a myriad of cases targeting fraud and abuse of the Medicaid Provider Program. The MFCB is a member of the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Units and receives direction from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
This conviction is the culmination of an ISP MFCB investigation and was prosecuted by the Illinois Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Bureau with assistance from the Wabash County State’s Attorney Office.
“The state’s Homes Services Program is vital, and we will continue to hold individuals accountable who abuse this program and take advantage of the people in their care,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said.
Morrison was sentenced to five years in prison, two years mandatory supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $48,542.
