For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today announced that Tony Garrett Taylor, 39, pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy and tax evasion in relation to a Medicaid fraud scheme that defrauded the North Carolina Medicaid program of more than $6.1 million. Taylor is a former Charlotte-area resident who currently resides in New York City.
“This individual defrauded our state’s Medicaid program out of millions of dollars,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “Those resources were intended for North Carolinians’ health care. My office will not tolerate health care fraud that wastes taxpayer money.”
Taylor and his brother, Jerry Lewis Taylor, owned and/or operated several outpatient behavioral health services companies for at-risk youth in North Carolina and other states. In North Carolina, the brothers’ companies included Taylor Behavioral Health Center LLC and Options Drive LLC in Monroe, Design for Change in Raleigh, and SHG Consultants Inc. in Gastonia.
From June 2015 to December 2017, Taylor conspired with his brother and others to submit fraudulent reimbursement claims to the Medicaid program for services that were either never provided or misrepresented the actual services provided in order to increase the reimbursement amount received. Taylor recruited other co-conspirators to participate in the scheme and obtained prospective patient lists with individuals’ Medicaid information to submit the fraudulent claims. The Taylor brothers received approximately $6.1 million in reimbursements from the Medicaid program through their scheme.
Taylor also failed to file the appropriate tax return forms after receiving and depositing more than $4.1 million in Medicaid reimbursements to his bank accounts and admitted to taking steps to willfully evade income tax obligations.
Jerry Lewis Taylor pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy and tax evasion in June and is currently awaiting sentencing. Three other defendants have also been charged in connection with the scheme.
The investigation and prosecution of this case was handled by the Western District Health Care Fraud Task Force, which includes the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Medicaid Investigations Division (MID), the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspector Service, and Criminal Investigations – Internal Revenue Service.
About the Medicaid Investigations Division (MID)
The Attorney General’s MID investigates fraud and abuse by healthcare companies and providers, as well as patient abuse and neglect in facilities that are funded by Medicaid. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that helps provide medical care for people with limited income. To date, the MID has recovered more than $850 million in restitution and penalties for North Carolina.
To report Medicaid fraud in North Carolina, call the North Carolina Medicaid Investigations Division at 919-881-2320.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484
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