Area healthcare company owner guilty of Medicaid fraud

The owners of a home healthcare agency that had offices in Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus were found guilty this week of Medicaid fraud, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

A jury found Ethel Freeman-Nnonah, 48, of Columbus, guilty of felony counts of Medicaid fraud, theft, forgery, and tampering with evidence.

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Nnonah was director of clinical services at Prudent Healthcare Services LLC, and falsified and forged medical assessments and patient plans-of-care and ordered numerous employees to do the same, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

Authorities say Nnonah and co-defendant Tinisee Harris, 45, also tampered with patient files they were ordered to produce pursuant to a subpoena served on the company’s Dayton office.

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Nnonah’s actions resulted in more than $101,000 in improper payments to the company from the Ohio Department of Medicaid, the state says.

Harris of Reynoldsburg was found guilty of felony counts of Medicaid fraud and tampering with evidence. He was a company administrator.

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The guilty verdicts followed a seven-day trial in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The two are scheduled for sentencing April 13.

The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Ohio AG’s Health Care Fraud Section.

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