North Carolina Attorney General Mark Stein has announced the guilty plea of a behavioral health specialist accused of bilking the state out of at least $213,927 as part of a Medicaid fraud scheme.
Skeen Services Inc. owner Pamela Grace Faulkner recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health-care fraud in the Eastern District of North Carolina. According to authorities, she was part of a scheme in which she submitted false Medicaid claims for about 200 different patients across the state, splitting the profits with a co-conspirator.
“This individual wasted taxpayer money that should have gone to people who need health care,” Stein told The Center Square. “My office will protect taxpayers and hold health-care providers and practices accountable when they commit fraud.”
Earlier this year, Stein reached a $375,000 settlement agreement with a local dentist also accused of submitting fraudulent claim forms. In all, the North Carolina Bureau of Investigations has recovered upward of $850 million in restitution and penalties for the state.
Across the country in fiscal year 2018, the federal government recovered $2.3 billion in judgments and settlements stemming from health-care fraud, according to the Inspector General’s office.
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