Indian River County, Florida Care Provider Arrested for Medicaid Fraud

August 17, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced the arrest of an Indian River county woman for stealing more than $3,000 from Florida’s Medicaid program. Alina Leyva was arrested by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with the assistance of deputies from the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.

The arrest resulted from an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, acting on information received from the mother of a Medicaid recipient. The investigation revealed that Leyva, 36, worked as a Medicaid home health care provider in Indian River County. Authorities believe she submitted claims to the Medicaid program for reimbursement for companion services she never provided to a disabled Medicaid recipient suffering from cerebral palsy. Leyva admitted that she did not perform the services she was billing to the Medicaid program.

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Leyva is currently being held at the Miami-Dade County Jail and is charged with grand theft, a third-degree felony. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $5,000. The case will be prosecuted by the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.

Source: Florida Attorney General