A Hawaii Island woman and her daughter were sentenced Wednesday to pay restitution and perform community service work for committing Medicaid fraud.
A Hawaii Island woman and her daughter were sentenced Wednesday to pay restitution and perform community service work for committing Medicaid fraud.
Susan Escobar and her daughter, Yolanda Cristina Escobar Hiro pleaded guilty second-degree theft for committing Medicaid fraud before Third Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hara in Hilo.
Under the terms of a plea agreement, Hara granted the defendants’ request for a deferral and ordered them to pay $7,000 as partial repayment for investigative costs to the Medicaid Special Fund and restitution in the amount of $7,068, as well as 200 hours of community service work. The defendants paid for the full amount owed for investigative costs and restitution at the time of sentencing.
Susan Escobar, the former office manager of Mastercare, a home health care services company that was contracted by the state to provide home care services to Medicaid recipients in their home, created false progress notes and time sheets, according to Attorney General Doug Chin. The notes and time sheets were for work that was never actually performed by Hiro. The fraudulently billed services were for Escobar’s former mother-in-law, a Medicaid recipient, living with Escobar.
The investigation, conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Department of the Attorney General with assistance from the Hawaii Police Department, revealed that it was impossible for Hiro to provide any services in Hilo since she resided, operated a child care business, and held a part-time job at a hotel in Kona.