Nine individuals accused of scamming Mississippi’s Medicaid program will pay a collective amount of more than $173,000 to resolve allegations against them.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi Patrick A. Lemon announced that the following former Medicaid recipients are believed to have knowingly falsified income to unlawfully create eligibility for taxpayer-subsidized healthcare benefits for their dependents: Rajwinder Kaur and Kawaldeep Singh; Narinder Kaur and Prabhdeep Momi; Bobby and Priyalpreet Babber; Gurinder and Mehaknoor Babber; and Navdeep Basra.
Medicaid is a state and federally funded health benefit program intended to assist low-income individuals and families. The Mississippi Division of Medicaid is the single state agency responsible for administering healthcare benefits for eligible, low-income individuals in the Magnolia State.
According to authorities, the defendants falsely represented the amount of income they earned, causing the Mississippi Division of Medicaid to pay healthcare coverage benefits the recipients allegedly had no business receiving.
“Individuals who fraudulently obtain Medicaid benefits that they are not entitled to divert funds meant to pay for services for legitimate enrollees, including the elderly and disabled,” Special Agent in Charge Kelly Blackmon with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said. “Working with our law enforcement partners, HHS-OIG will continue to investigate Medicaid enrollment fraud schemes to protect the integrity of this vital, taxpayer-funded program.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, investigated the alleged fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deidre Colson and Keesha Middleton for the Southern District of Mississippi handled the cases.
