Pennsylvania Mom, Daughter On Trial in $1M Fraud Case

A mother and daughter from northeastern Pennsylvania are on trial for allegedly taking part in a decade-long $1 million insurance scam.

Sixty-one-year-old Bianca Bucano and her 23-year-old daughter, Melissa, were allegedly part of a scam ring that sent invoices to insurers for home health care services they never provided.

Melissa Bucano’s attorney told a Monroe County jury during Monday’s opening statements his client was a home-schooled child doing as she was told when she filled out forms given to her by her mother starting in 2000.

The state attorney general’s office charged nine people in the case. Alleged ring-leader Judi Grate pleaded guilty and was sentenced to at least six years in prison in September.

The Pocono Record reports Bianca Bucano’s attorney reserved his opening statement for later.