NEW YORK – Two women have pled guilty and were sentenced in connection with their filing of claims with Medicaid that falsely represented that home healthcare services were provided to relatives.
In separate cases, Tina Gabel, 59, of Poughkeepsie, and Enny Portillo, 59, of Highland Mills, admitted to stealing from the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, a home care program funded by Medicaid.
The program allows a physically disabled person or their representative to assume full responsibility for their home care and recruit, train, supervise and fire the personal assistants providing the care.
Portillo admitted that she verified false timesheets submitted to Priority Home Care Services, Inc., a fiscal intermediary for the state program, claiming services were provided in her Orange County home to her relative between February 2010 and November 2011 by the personal assistant, another relative, while the recipient was out of the country. Portillo pled guilty to felony grand larceny in Orange County court. She has paid $75,812 in restitution and was sentenced to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service.
Gabel admitted that she submitted false timesheets to AccentCare of New York, which claimed that home care services were provided to two of her relatives in Dutchess County between October 2011 and February 2015 when the personal assistant, another relative, was not in Dutchess County. Gabel pled guilty to felony grand larceny, paid restitution of $113,584 and was sentenced to five years of probation.
