Las Vegas couple charged in $13M Medicaid fraud
A Las Vegas couple are facing multiple federal charges in connection with allegations that they defrauded the North Carolina Medicaid Program out of $13 million, according to the Department of Justice.
Latisha Harron, 44, also known as Latisha Holt, and Timothy Harron, 50, are accused of working together to defraud the program by billing the government for phony home health services, according to an indictment that was unsealed Wednesday after the two were arrested.
“This case represents one of the most brazen and egregious cases of home health Medicaid fraud ever seen in this district,” Robert Higdon Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a statement.
The Harrons are charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, one count of health care fraud, 54 counts of wire fraud, six counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and 11 counts of conducting transactions in criminally derived property with fraud and money laundering.
Latisha Harron is also charged with making false statements relating to health care matters.
Concealed ’17 N.C. felonies
In May 2017, Latisha Harron moved to Las Vegas to live with Timothy Harron, both with previous felony convictions, and they married the next year. The couple concealed their felony convictions from the North Carolina Medicaid system, and worked together to collect more than $10 million between 2017 and 2019, according to the Justice Department.
The couple scoured North Carolina online obituaries from offices and a penthouse condo in Las Vegas, as well as from resorts and hotels around the world, to find people who had died and collect personal information to find out if they had Medicaid eligibility in order to “back-bill” the system for a up to a year of home health services, according to the Justice Department.
They spent laundered money on a $900,000 private jet, high-end jewelry and clothing, and properties in North Carolina, the indictment alleges. The indictment seeks the forfeiture of a 2017 Aston Martin DB 11 and a wine collection.
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