McCreary County Couple Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Social Security and Kentucky Medicaid Out of Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

LONDON — A McCreary County couple, who defrauded the Social Security Administration and Kentucky Medicaid out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, has been sentenced in federal court.

On Thursday, June 18, U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove sentenced Oliver Taylor, 59, to 33 months in prison, for theft of government property, health care fraud, and defrauding the Social Security Administration (SSA).  Oliver’s wife at the time of the offenses, Lisa Taylor, 51, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, for social security fraud.  Both defendants have been ordered to pay full restitution to the SSA.  Under federal law, they will have to serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentences.

According to court documents, in 1993, Oliver Taylor began receiving Social Security benefit payments on behalf of his elderly mother.  Starting in 1995, following his mother’s death, and continuing until 2014, Oliver Taylor repeatedly failed to report his mother’s death to the SSA, in order to continue receiving her benefit payments for his own personal use.  Specifically, Oliver made false statements to the SSA and signed his deceased mother’s name on eligibility forms to indicate she was still alive.

For approximately seven years, Lisa Taylor assisted in the fraud scheme, by signing SSA reports for Oliver and by pretending to be Oliver’s mother during a phone conversation with the SSA.

Because Oliver illegally converted his mother’s benefits to his own use, he was ineligible for his own SSA benefits.  Additionally, he fraudulently failed to report the money he collected from his mother’s benefits as income to the SSA and Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services.

As a result of their scheme, the Taylors fraudulently obtained a total of $487,798.98 from the SSA and the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services.

Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Margaret Moore-Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Atlanta Field Division, jointly made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam C. Reeves prosecuted the case.