CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An Arizona woman was sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding Medicaid programs in Georgia and North Carolina of more than $3.7 million, officials announced.
Bree'Anna Harris, 32, of Phoenix, was sentenced to 36 months in prison with two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $3.9 million in restitution for her involvement in the scheme, the Justice Department announced.
According to court documents, Harris and her two other people operated an after-school and youth mentoring program known as Do-It-4-The Hood Corporation (D4H). From January 2016 through November 2018, the trio paid individuals to recruit at-risk kids, particularly those who were eligible for Medicaid in North Carolina.
Once enrolled, the kids were required to take regular drug tests. Harris and the other suspects conspired with certain labs in North Carolina to process the samples and received kickbacks once the labs were reimbursed by North Carolina Medicaid. Harris used BPollini Consulting, LLC to receive and conceal fraudulent kickback payments that were distributed to her coconspirators, documents show.
In 2017, the trio moved to Georgia, where they expanded their scheme to defraud Georgia's Medicaid program. Aspirar Labs and its owner agreed to pay $1.95 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing North Carolina Medicaid for drug tests that were not medically necessary and tainted by illegal kickbacks. Donald Booker, the owner of Greensboro-based United Diagnostics Laboratory, was sentenced to 200 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $11 million after being convicted by a jury for his role in the scheme.
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