Jasper Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Indiana Medicaid

August 24, 2007 -- INDIANAPOLIS, IN – William Higdon, who co-owned businesses that provided taxicab services in Jasper, Indiana, has pled guilty to defrauding Indiana’s Medicaid program. From June 2004 through February 2006, Higdon submitted fraudulent claims of nearly $300,000 to Medicaid for transportation services of Medicaid patients.

“Anytime there is fraud perpetrated against Medicaid, our most vulnerable citizens suffer,” Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter said. “We continue to work with federal authorities to aggressively weed out deception in the program.”

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Higdon co-owned Jasper Cab and Higdon Transportation Services and submitted fraudulent claims for services to Indiana Medicaid. The fraudulent claims included:

* Submitting claims for transportation of Medicaid patients when he knew that no transportation was actually provided by his companies.
* Submitting claims for transportation of Medicaid patients for services already provided by his companies for which they had already been paid.
* Submitting claims under Jasper Cab’s Medicaid number to receive a duplicate payment for services already provided to patients.

A Grand Jury indicted Higdon on one count of Health Care Fraud in December 2006.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court, Southern District on November 27, 2007.

Source: Indiana Attorney General