The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into the operations of a Northeast Ohio home health care agency on suspicions of health care fraud totaling more than $17 million, according to Northern District of Ohio court documents.
Filings with the court indicate the FBI is investigating Just Like Familee, a home health care agency with three locations in Cleveland Heights, Mentor and Twinsburg, on accusations regarding the credibility of services provided to its Medicare-eligible patients.
Namely, investigators are looking into purportedly false claims made by Just Like Familee employees about the services they provided, which in turn resulted in Medicaid paying more than $17 million between 2008 and 2013.
Additionally, court records also revealed that employees had been directed by Just Like Familee owners, Delores Knight and daughter Theresa Adams, to alter company records during an audit by the Ohio Department of Health.
Nine current and former employees interviewed by federal investigators alleged that the owners had ordered them to fake doctor’s signatures, lie about the services provided to clients and ask patients to sign fraudulent documents for the purpose of billing Medicaid.
As part of their investigation, the FBI collected several items from each of the Just Like Familee locations, which they will sift through for evidence of fraud.
Both Knight and Adams denied allegations made in the court filings complaint. No criminal charges have been filed.
Written by Jason Oliva
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