Release date: 7/30/2019
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today announced that Lee Ellen Rudisill Oeser of Gaston County pleaded guilty to one count of common law forgery in Gaston County District Court and was sentenced to 45 suspended days in jail, 18 months unsupervised probation, and was ordered to pay a $100 fine. Oeser’s conviction will also exclude her from participating as a provider in the North Carolina Medicaid program.
“Medicaid fraud wastes taxpayer dollars and keeps people who need it from getting medical care,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “My office will investigate and hold people accountable when they cheat the system.”
Oeser, a Gaston County Schools speech pathologist, fraudulently created treatment records for 21 Costner Elementary School students who were Medicaid beneficiaries. Her records falsely indicated that she provided speech therapy to the students as required by their education plans during the 2016-2017 school year. Gaston County Schools then submitted and was reimbursed for 221 claims to the North Carolina Medicaid program based on Oeser’s falsely-documented services. Oeser’s actions were referred for investigation by the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Speech and Language Pathologists and Audiologists.
Gaston County Schools has terminated Oeser and reimbursed the Medicaid program for the amount lost through claims submitted due to Oeser’s fraudulent records. This conviction was obtained by the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Medicaid Investigations Division and Locke Bell, District Attorney for Prosecutorial District 38.
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