N.Y. Rehab Center and Owner Convicted of Medicaid Fraud; Will Repay $400,000

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that John Jenkins, an owner of Community Integration Associates Inc. (CIA), which provided rehabilitation services to individuals with traumatic brain
injuries, and his company have pleaded guilty to various larceny and fraud charges, and have agreed to repay taxpayers $391,779 for Medicaid billing fraud.

Jenkins also agreed to repay $58,218 to the U.S. Social Security Administration for disability benefits he was not entitled to collect.

Appearing before Acting Supreme Court Justice Joseph Latham in Bath, CIA, which operated out of Jenkins’ residence until closing in 2002, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree.

By its plea, CIA reportedly admitted that, between January 1999 and December 2001, it stole more than $50,000 from the Medicaid program by knowingly billing for services delivered to severely injured
Medicaid recipients by staff who lacked the minimum qualifications required by law.

Such services included assisting the recipients in developing, implementing and monitoring their own plan of services and support.
Jenkins, 59, also pleaded guilty before Justice Latham to two
counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.

By his plea, Jenkins admitted that he submitted Medicaid reimbursement claims which falsely represented that, between December 1997 and December 2001, he met hundreds of times with clients when he did not. Jenkins also admitted that he submitted false documentation to the Social Security Administration between October 1998 and November 2002 in order to continue to collect benefits resulting from a physical disability even though he was gainfully employed by CIA.

As part of the negotiated pleas, CIA, Jenkins, and his wife, Elizabeth Jenkins, also an owner of the corporation, agreed to repay $391,779 to the Medicaid program.

Justice Latham indicated that, on Sept. 22, he would sentence Jenkins, who suffers from a serious heart condition, to one year of electronic home monitoring, community service, and five years’ probation. The corporation faces a fine up to $10,000.