Washington D.C.
A federal grand jury in Chicago returned an indictment charging a former nursing home employee with seven counts of wire fraud.
According to court documents, Alisha Richardson, 44, of Chicago, devised a scheme to defraud her employer, a Chicago-area nursing home, of funds by falsifying records to generate payments to individuals who never worked at the facility (so-called “ghost” employees).
The indictment alleges that, as part of the scheme, Richardson created false records to make it appear as though the individuals were employed as Certified Nursing Assistants.
But they did not work at the nursing home, the indictment shows.
The indictment further alleges that Richardson logged false hours for these “ghost” employees, which caused the nursing home to issue paychecks.
According to the indictment, some “ghost” employees cashed the checks and shared the proceeds with Richardson. The indictment further alleges that Richardson forged endorsement signatures for the individuals on other occasions and deposited the paychecks into her bank accounts.
As a result of the scheme, the nursing home paid out over $100,000 for work that was never performed.
“These charges reflect the department’s commitment to hold criminals accountable for their wrongdoing,” said Principal Deputy Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
“Individuals who fraudulently obtain funds that were otherwise intended to support the delivery of health care services unlawfully redirect valuable resources away from people in need of medical care,” said Special Agent in Charge Mario M. Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Chicago Region.
The FBI and the HHS-OIG investigated the case.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorneys Raquel Toledo and James T. Nelson of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Julien for the Northern District of Illinois.
Richardson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.