Suburban residents among 455 charged nationally in Medicaid fraud crackdown

Several suburban residents are facing charges stemming from a massive Medicaid fraud crackdown that resulted in 455 arrests nationwide.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced charges against 17 individuals from Illinois and Missouri who falsified Medicaid records in Illinois.

Nationally, 90 doctors and dozens of other licensed medical professionals were charged “for their alleged participation in healthcare fraud and opioid abuse schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims and significant patient harm,” Raoul said.

Amro T. Abdel-Fattah, 45, of Lombard, is charged with two counts of theft of government property, two counts of theft, two counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government property, one count of managed care fraud and one count of vendor fraud in connection with submitting over $1 million in false claims for pharmaceutical prescriptions, according to Raoul’s office.

David Mason, 61, of Lombard, is charged with two counts of theft of governmental property, one count of vendor fraud and one count of forgery in connection with submitting false time sheets to the state to receive payment for services provided under the Home Services Program that he did not render. Raoul alleges Mason submitted claims that overlap with dates and times the intended recipient was a resident at a supported living facility.

Shanty Svay, 41, of Glendale Heights, is charged with two counts of theft of governmental property, one count of vendor fraud and one count of forgery in connection with submitting false time sheets to receive payments for personal services she did not render. Raoul alleges that Svay submitted false claims to the state for services provided under the Home Services Program.

The others charged in Illinois incluse residents of Chicago, Breese, River Forest, La Grange Park, Bloomington, Olympia Fields, Collinsville, Sauk Village, Centralia and Cicero as well as Missouri residents from St. Louis and Charleston.