Catinia Farrington, Health Care Fraud and Tax Evasion, North Carolina 2024

Feds Indict Mental Health Provider Owner on Health Care Fraud and Tax Evasion Charges

A federal grand jury in Greensboro, North Carolina returned an indictment, which was unsealed today, charging Catinia Farrington and Haydn Thomas, the operators of a mental health provider, with multiple crimes related to the submission of false claims to Medicaid and tax evasion.

Farrington, owner of Durham County Mental Health and Behavioral Health Services LLC, and Thomas, a former office manager for an oral surgeon, allegedly submitted thousands of false claims to Medicaid that resulted in Medicaid paying over $4 million to DCMBHS from 2011 through 2015.

According to the indictment, Farrington and Thomas obtained the Medicaid numbers of dental patients and then submitted false claims to Medicaid for mental health services that were not performed without the permission of the patients.

The indictment further alleges that Farrington and Thomas diverted millions of dollars from DCMBHS for their own personal use and evaded income taxes by transferring money to various business bank accounts and paying personal expenses from the business bank accounts.

If convicted, Farrington and Thomas face a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison for each count of health care fraud, 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, two years in prison for each count of aggravated identity theft, and five years in prison for each count of tax evasion.

Farrington and Thomas also face a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin commended special agents of the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, Office of Inspector General, and the Medicaid Investigations Division of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office (MID), who conducted the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Robert Hamilton, Trial Attorney Mara Strier of the Tax Division, and Special United States Attorney Michael Heavner MID, who are prosecuting the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/operators-mental-health-provider-indicted-health-care-fraud-and-tax-evasion-charges