Other LanguagesOLYMPIA, Wash. – An individual care giver in Grays Harbor County pled guilty today to one count of Theft in the First Degree for collecting from the state-federal medical assistance program more than $6,700 in payments for care she never provided.
According to the affidavit filed by a state Medicaid Fraud Investigator, Krista Richters claimed to provide care for the maximum 100 hours per month from February 2004 through October 2004. In the affidavit, she admitted she had not worked even “one hour.”
Richters was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail and 12 months in community supervision. Her sentence also requires her to pay $6,744 in restitution to the Office of Financial Recovery at the Department of Social and Health Services and an additional $1,210 in court costs and fines.
The fraud was discovered by a case worker with Olympic Area Agency on Aging, Senior Information and Assistance and referred to the Medicaid Fraud Unit.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is housed in the Criminal Justice Division of the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. The unit is charged with investigating and prosecuting instances of provider fraud and patient abuse in the Medicaid system.
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For more information and background:
Greg Weber, Assistant Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, (253) 593-2153
Roy Walker, Director, Olympic Area Agency on Aging, Senior Information and Assistance, (360) 379-5064
Janelle Guthrie, Media Relations Director, Attorney General’s Office, (360) 586-0725
Jeff Weathersby, DSHS Media Relations, (360) 902-7892