Yep, it could happen to anyone, and I wonder how rampant this is. I get so angry just thinking about it.
As to your questions:
From the plea agreement:
“SCH submitted monthly claims to Medicaid for DeLap’s services under a billing code that required face-to-face assessments by a registered nurse. Medicaid paid SCH approximately $38 for each of DeLap’s visits, and this amount was then paid to DeLap. During the time under investigation,
DeLap was paid approximately $2,500 for her services to the four Medicaid beneficiaries at the Claymine Drive ISL residence.” (BBM)
The fact that $2,500 is also the amount she has been ordered to forfeit leads me to believe she did not visit any of the four clients, IMO.
Also from the plea agreement:
“DeLap agrees to surrender her nursing license within six months of pleading guilty. She also agrees that she will not seek licensing again to practice as a nurse in any state of the United States or any of its territories.”
As to why the amount of the money judgement has been reduced, in requesting the change, the U.S. Attorney states:
“2. The Forfeiture Allegation in the Information sought a personal money judgment against the defendant for $106,795 in United States currency in that such sum
in the aggregate, was derived, directly or indirectly, from gross proceeds traceable to the offenses.
3. On August 22, 2018, the defendant Melissa Denise Delap entered into a plea
agreement with the United States in which she agreed to plead guilty to Count One of the Information charging violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1347; and consented to the entry of a money judgment in the amount of $106,795 in United States currency.
However, the United States has determined that the defendant, to defraud Medicaid, only received $2,500 during the scheme. Therefore, the United States is seeking a money judgment in the amount of $2,500 from the defendant Melissa Denise DeLap.” (BBM)
And going back to the plea agreement:
“DeLap’s Health Care Fraud Scheme:
From at least September 2016 through March 2017 (shortly before DeBrodie’s body was discovered), DeLap completed and signed DeBrodie’s Community RN Monthly Health Summary for every month in that period, falsely stating that she had performed a face-to-face assessment of DeBrodie and provided the other services she was required to do as a CRN. During this same period, DeLap also did not provide the services she was paid for to the other SCH residents on Claymine Drive, as she was paid to do.” (BBM)
So perhaps she is being ordered to pay back only the amount she acquired fraudulently between September 2016 through March 2017, while the government builds a separate case regarding the remaining amount.
I was very curious as to when DeLap’s sentencing is going to take place (“maximum penalty the Court may impose is not more than ten years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment per felony count of conviction which must be paid in full at the time of sentencing”), but the information doesn’t appear to be available at this time.
Source:
Public Access to Court Electronic Records