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A 40-year-old Patterson woman was among 19 people the Louisiana Attorney General has arrested on Medicaid fraud charges, according to a Thursday news release.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has arrested 19 and obtained a grand jury indictment against two individuals and their company this week as part of the 2017 National Health Care Fraud Takedown – a nationwide initiative aimed at bringing to justice those accused of Medicaid welfare fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violations of the anti-kickback statutes, and money laundering, the release said.
Among those arrested was Jeanette Favors, 40, of Patterson, on four counts of medicaid fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered, the release said.
“Our award-winning Medicaid welfare fraud investigators work around the clock to fight waste, fraud, and abuse in this program so critical to our State’s most vulnerable,” Landry said in the release. “With the Governor’s expansion of Medicaid welfare, we recognize the need for even greater detection and prevention of taxpayer-funded Medicaid welfare fraud.”
“As part of the 2017 Takedown, our office has arrested 19 alleged perpetrators of Medicaid fraud in Louisiana and received grand jury indictments against two others and their company in just three days,” he said. “I am proud of our team’s results during this operation and the way they save the taxpayers’ hard-earned money daily.”
“Our medical providers spend countless hours caring for our everyday ailments, improving and extending our lives, and often fighting for us in our most desperate hours," said Acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson. "They are rightly viewed as some of the most trusted and respected members of our society. Too often, the few dishonest providers hijack this well-earned respect and trust to line their own pockets through fraud. My office, which has sent nearly 50 healthcare fraud defendants to federal prison since the inception of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, will continue to work tirelessly with our outstanding federal, state, and local partners to root out these bad actors. I greatly appreciate all those who have contributed to this important and successful law enforcement effort."
Following an investigation by Landry's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, grand jury indictments were obtained against Demarcus Holiday, 33 of Zachary and Debra Holiday Butler, 59 of Clinton as well as the business they managed. They were indicted on charges of: Louisiana racketeering, criminal conspiracy to commit forgery, filing or maintaining false public records, theft by fraud of $750 or more and money laundering of $100,000 or more, the release said.
Other arrests included:
Trenell Tate, 33, of Baton Rouge, was arrested on seven counts of Medicaid Fraud for submitting fraudulent claims for providing medical services.
Angelia Robbins, 36, of Kentwood, was arrested on five count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Frankie Williams, 55, of Charenton, was arrested on four counts of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Miranda Bobb, 28, of Jeanerette, was arrested on four counts of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Brandi Edmond, 32, of Jeanerette, was arrested on four counts of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Shakeitha Lewis, 39, of Jeanerette, was arrested on three counts of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Kayla Ducote, 29, of Hamburg, was arrested on three counts of Medicaid Fraud for submitting fraudulent claims for services not rendered.
Robin Jeanlouis, 32, of Case, was arrested on three counts of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Marsha Wilson, 40, of New Iberia, was arrested on two counts of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Laquita Barfield, 33, of Bastrop, was arrested on one count of Theft by Fraud for allegedly submitting false time sheets and service logs to two separate Medicaid providers.
David Heinis, 44, of Thibodaux, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Catrena Hadley, 36, of Harvey, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Veneshia Givens, 46, of New Orleans, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Tamara Despenza, 41, of Zachary, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for signing a documents stating she received services that she did not.
Belita Robertson, 33, of Wilson, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Tracy Pomier, 48, of Opelousas, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
John Turner, 37, of Marrero, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
Lucy Route, 60, of Baker, was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud for allegedly submitting time sheets and service logs for services not rendered.
The aforementioned suspects have all been booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
A former Shaw Group employee, her boyfriend and another man were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Baton Rouge that accused them of insider trading that enabled them to profit from the sale of Baton Rouge-based Shaw to CB&I.
Kelly Liu, 31, a Baton Rouge, is accused of passing along information to Salvador Russo III, 34, of Baton Rouge, and Victory Ho, of Morgan City.
Liu worked in the financial planning and analysis department at Shaw and learned in mid-2012 about the potential merger. The merger was publicly announced on July 30 of that year.
Federal law bars officers, directors and other members of publicly traded companies from using secret company information to profit from stock trades.
Ho and Russo allegedly purchased Shaw stock before the public announcement, when Shaw’s stock rose a great deal.
Ho, who formerly served as chairman of the Morgan City Housing Authority Board, resigned from that position Aug. 22, 2016, after he was one of three people arrested in a narcotics investigation in St. Mary Parish.
Ho was arrested Aug. 18, 2016, by the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office on charges of possession of marijuana, Percocet, Lortab, Norco, Xanax, and drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute, transactions involving drug proceeds, possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance, violations of the controlled dangerous substance law drug free zone and distribution-manufacturing-sale-possession of synthetic urine.
During that investigation, sheriff’s office narcotics detectives conducted multiple search warrants in the Morgan City area. The search warrants stem from a long-term investigation regarding the sale and possession of illegal narcotics, Sheriff Mark Hebert said in a news release.
The federal government maintains Ho sold his Shaw securities after the announcement, while Russo held on to his. Ho is accused of making $294,000, while Russo made $2,500 in unrealized profits from their alleged insider trading, according to acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson.
Other former Shaw employees have been indicted in the federal insider trading probe of the Shaw sale. In February 2015, Scott David Zeringue, a former Shaw Group vice president of construction operations, and his brother-in-law Jesse H. Roberts III were accused of insider trades with alleged frauds totaling
nearly $1 million.
Zeringue, who later pleaded guilty, told Roberts about the move. Roberts, a Ruston dentist, then allegedly told Billy J. Adcox Jr. about the information and Adcox then passed it on to a man only identified as John Doe in his indictment. Roberts and Adcox are still scheduled for trial.
Marva D. Phillips, age 73, entered eternal rest on Saturday, July 8, 2017.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ernest Phillips Jr.; daughter, Ingrid Phillips; parents, Leona and Alvin Yelling Sr.; and brother, Alvin Yelling Jr.
She leaves to cherish her memory her two sons, Ernest Phillips III and Christopher Phillips; four grandchildren; two siblings, Walter Yelling and Louise Henry; and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.
Relatives and friends of the family are all invited to attend her Celebration of Life Service on Saturday, July 15, 2017, 10 a.m., at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 414 Martin Luther King Jr. St., Baldwin, LA with Father Cedric Sonnier officiating. Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. until the hour of service. Interment in Baldwin Catholic Cemetery.
Services entrusted to the caring staff of Professional Funeral Services Inc., “Celebrating Life,” 1449 N Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70116, 504-948-7447.
Annie Declouet Carr Portier Price, 68, a native of Orange, Texas and resident of Patterson, died Saturday, July 8, 2017, at Morgan City Healthcare Center.
Visitation will be Saturday from 10 a.m. until services at 2:30 p.m. at Good Hope Baptist Church in Patterson. Burial will follow in the Home Industrial Cemetery in Patterson.
She is survived by two sons, Clayton Carr of Monrovia, Virginia and Robert Carr of Spotsylvania, Virginia; two daughters, Tina Gant and Precious Danos, both of Patterson; nine brothers, Lawrence Francis, Geroge Declouet, Steven Declouet, Gervase Declouet, Joseph Allen, Douglas Allen, Keith Levy and Micheal
Levy, all of Patterson, and Garry Levy of Morgan City; six sisters, Mona Barrow of Morgan City, Debra James of Berwick, Betty Taylor of San Antonio, and Gloria Declouet, JoAnn Dugas and Barbara Labry, all of Patterson; nine grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and a host of other relatives.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, a son, a grandson and four sisters.
Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
James Harding II, 78, a native of Terrebonne Parish and a resident of Gray, died Tuesday, July 4, 2017.
Visitation will be from 8 a.m. until services at 10 a.m. Saturday at Eagle Wright Baptist Church in Gray. Burial will follow in Mt. Olive Baptist Church Ceme-tery.
He is survived by his wife, Hazel Zilton Harding of Houma; daughters, Lisa Aiken and Arnaissha Polly, both of Houma; sons, James, Harding III, Travis Valentine, Lindsey Hester and Christopher Hester, all of Houma; nine grandchildren; one great-grandchild; brothers, John Jr. and Therode Batiste, both of Houma; two sisters, Lenora Stevenson of Houma and Isadora Delahousaye of Morgan City; and a host of other relatives.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.
Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Gertie Frederick, 87, died July 8, 2017, in Houston.
She is survived by four children, Michael Frederick and Brian Frederick, both of Houston, Tanaa Whiteis of Carmel Valley, California, and Annette Rochel of McComb, Mississippi; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and a brother.
Services were at 3 p.m. Thursday at Johnson and Robison Funeral Home Chapel with burial in Roselawn Cemetery in Sulphur.
Johnson and Robison Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Gloria Lee Singleton Thomas, 75, a native and resident of Morgan City, died Thursday, July 6, 2017, at her residence.
Visitation will be Saturday from 8 a.m. until services at 11 a.m. at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church in Morgan City. Burial will follow in the Morgan City Cemetery.
She is survived by her husband, Beauregard Thomas of Houston; two sons, George Thomas of Houston and Terry Thomas of Morgan City; six daughters, Patricia Thomas of Patterson, and Sherry Thomas-Dewey, Carla Thomas, Debbie Thomas, Catina Thomas and Judy Sin-gleton, all of Morgan City; 14 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and a host of other relatives.
She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother and four sisters.
Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
STUFF THE BUS
Hattie Watts Elementary, Patterson Junior High and Patterson High schools will benefit from the Stuff the Bus event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at Family Dollar parking lot, Patterson. A few of the many items needed include notebooks, pencils, erasers, loose leaf paper, copy paper, markers, colored pencils, glue, paper towels, facial tissue, binders, belts, feminine products, and little kid’s socks, underwear and belts.
BATON ROUGE (AP) — The race for Louisiana state treasurer, a job vacant for the first time in 17 years, attracted five contenders Wednesday on the opening day of the registration period for a special fall election that will cost taxpayers $5 million.
Nearly all the candidates to be Louisiana’s top money manager and investment official had announced their intentions to appear on the Oct. 14 ballot, and had been fundraising for weeks or months before showing up to file their paperwork and pay election fees at the Secretary of State’s Office.
The top three, all Republi-cans, have state government experience, which they say makes them the most qualified to take over the job Republican John Kennedy vacated when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. They talked Wednesday of Louisiana’s continuing financial prob-lems, though the treasurer has little ability beyond using the position to high-light the woes to do much to solve them.
And those problems remain profound: Louisiana has struggled through nearly a decade of financial troubles, with midyear shortfalls cropping up each year as the state’s income falls below its spending. A gap of more than $1 billion is forecast for the next budget year, when tem-porary taxes expire.
Former state budget administrator Angele Davis, a Baton Rouge Republican who worked for GOP former Govs. Mike Foster and Bobby Jindal and Democratic former Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, cited her background in public finance. She served as Jindal’s top budget adviser the first two years of his eight-year tenure.
“The challenges that we are being faced with in our state need someone with qualifications and experience. I’m a fiscal conservative. I’ve worked under two governors. I have worked very successfully to increase our bond ratings under both governors,” she said.
State Sen. Neil Riser, a Republican funeral home owner from Caldwell Parish, cited his four-year tenure as the chairman of the Senate tax committee and his years as a bank board member.
Former state Rep. John Schroder, a Republican businessman and former law enforcement officer from St. Tammany Parish who resigned his legislative seat in June to focus on the campaign, highlighted his push in the legislature to cut spending.
“I’m a fighter for people. That’s what I do. This pro-vides me an opportunity to represent people from a different seat than where I’ve been the last 10 years. I think I’m well prepared for it,” Schroder said.
Also signing up for the race were lawyer Derrick Edwards, a New Orleans Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate seat last year, and Joseph Little, a Libertarian from Ponchatoula. Qualifying continues through Friday evening.
The special election creates an unexpected expense, since Louisiana wasn’t scheduled to have other statewide races this year. It’s the first time the treasurer’s office hasn’t had an incumbent since Ken-nedy was elected 17 years ago. He drew attention to the treasurer’s office after getting into several high-profile clashes with governors over spending and budget-balancing tactics.
“I think (Kennedy) brought it to the forefront, the role being showing the people and letting them know where wasteful spending is going on,” Riser said. “He did a good job of doing that, and I also want to do that.”
Schroder has the fundrais-ing lead, with $609,000 cash on hand including a personal loan to his campaign, according to the latest finance reports. Davis reported $234,000 in her campaign account, and Riser had $156,000. Edwards and Little haven’t filed campaign finance reports.
One of the top fundraisers for the treasurer’s race had been Republican state Rep. Julie Stokes, an accountant from Kenner. But she exited the race last week after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Ron Henson, Kennedy’s top assistant, has been working as interim state treasurer until someone is elected.
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Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte .
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Phone: 337-828-3706
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Morgan City Review
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Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255