Last week, state Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit announced the arrest of the owner of a personal care company for forging doctor referrals and fraudulently billing Medicaid.
With the assistance of the Ocoee Police Department, an investigation found that Keondra Vernessa Burch, owner of Divinely Chosen Services, submitted fraudulent documents for nearly three years, causing a loss of nearly $400,000 to Medicaid.
“This fraudster forged medical records to steal nearly $400,000 from taxpayers. My Medicaid fraud investigators uncovered this scheme and stopped it. Now the defendant will have to answer for his crime in a court of law,” Moody said.
According to the investigation, Burch owned Divinely Chosen Services, a Medicaid provider of personal care services. In order for Medicaid recipients to qualify for these services, a referring physician must deem the care medically necessary and submit appropriate documentation. However, the MFCU investigation revealed that Burch and the company repeatedly submitted forged doctors’ referrals to Medicaid so that Burch could bill for providing the unnecessary services. From January 2020 through November 2022, Burch submitted fraudulent documents and billed for these services resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars to the Medicaid program.
Burch faces one count of Medicaid provider fraud, a first-degree felony.
