La. Resident Found Guilty in Medicaid Fraud

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti, Jr. announced that an East Baton Rouge Parish jury found a former resident of Ethel, La., guilty as charged on six felony counts, following a seven-day jury trial presented by prosecutors with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) of the Attorney General’s Office.

Kenneth Ray Bradford, a/k/a Ken Taylor, 42, was convicted of conspiracy to commit theft by fraud of more than $1,000; theft by fraud of more than $1,000; conspiracy to commit money laundering of $100,000 or more; money laundering of $100,000 or more; filing false public records and forgery. Bradford now faces 10 years imprisonment on both the conspiracy to commit felony theft and felony theft charges; five years to 99 years imprisonment on both the conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering charges; five years imprisonment on the filing false public records charge; and 10 years imprisonment on the forgery charge.

Bradford was originally indicted on Aug. 14, 2002, along with Kemp J. Oubre, Sr., Tyrone Clenoid Dunn, and Aros Deval Comeaux, for their roles involving the sham sale of a house in Plaquemine. Oubre, Dunn and Comeaux pled guilty in November 2003 to reduced and/or lesser included criminal offenses in exchange for their truthful testimony against Bradford.

The indictment of Bradford, Oubre, Dunn and Comeaux stems from a Medicaid fraud investigation into the now defunct T & K Rehabilitation Services Inc. in Port Allen, a mental health provider in the Louisiana Medicaid Program. Investigators with the Attorney General’s MFCU learned that Martisa B. Henderson¸ former owner of T & K Rehabilitation Services Inc. fraudulently submitted claims to Medicaid totaling more than $888,000. Henderson reportedly gave Oubre, her former boyfriend, more than $200,000 of the fraudulently obtained money to build the house in Plaquemine. Henderson was convicted in 2002 of money laundering $100,000 or more, sentenced to 12 years in jail, and paid $10,000 in restitution.

At the conclusion of the investigation into T & K Rehabilitation Services Inc., the MFCU filed a petition against Oubre to seize the house for the Medicaid monies fraudulently invested in the house.

Testimony at the trial reportedly showed that shortly after Oubre was served, he hired Bradford and Dunn to falsely transfer ownership of the house to a third party, Celeste Stewart Bynum. According to testimony at the trial, Bradford orchestrated the fraudulent transfer of the house by Oubre to Bynum, including a mortgage, which was fraudulently obtained. The mortgage was issued based upon fraudulent W-2 statements, forged payroll check stubs and falsely altered bank account records.

Testimony further showed that Bradford received more than $38,000 as a kickback for handling the real estate transaction.