A woman pled guilty to health care fraud May 8 following an undercover investigation into the sale of counterfeit health certificates to people seeking jobs in the home health care industry.
Adoshia L. Flythe, 36, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Flythe, a personal care aide, was one of 24 people—including operators of home care agencies and nurse staffing agencies, office workers, and personal care aides—arrested in late February, following investigations into fraudulent billing practices in the home health care industry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The investigations uncovered separate schemes allegedly involving fraud, kickbacks and false billings in the growing field of home care services for District of Columbia Medicaid patients. She is the first defendant to plead guilty in the various schemes.
In her guilty plea, Flythe admitted selling packages of counterfeit documentation to two individuals, charging them $350 apiece, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The fraudulent documents Flythe sold allegedly included a counterfeit “Home Health Care Aide” certificate from the University of the District of Columbia and a counterfeit “Health Certificate for Staff” that contained the forged name and signature of at least one doctor.
The two individuals who purchased the documents from Flythe purportedly wanted to apply for employment with a home care agency and to cause Medicaid to be billed for personal care services, when actually they were working as part of the undercover investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Sentencing for Flythe is scheduled for Sept. 4.
The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison as well as financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Flythe faces up to six months of incarceration and a fine of up to $5,000.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
