United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

FORMER LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR
SENTENCED ON HEALTH CARE FRAUD CONVICTION

LUBBOCK, Texas — U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings sentenced Debra Smith, a former Licensed Professional Counselor in Lubbock, to 12 months in prison and ordered her to pay $65,042.56 restitution, following her guilty plea in May to one count of health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Judge Cummings ordered that Smith surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on September 26, 2008.

Debra Smith, 40, was a Licensed Professional Counselor and from January 1, 2003 until December 31, 2006, she submitted, and caused to be submitted, bills for payment to the Texas Medicaid Program for services she didn’t render.

One specific execution os Smith’s scheme to defraud Medicaid occurred in October 2004 when she billed Medicaid for counseling an 8-year-old, “BNP,” at a cost of $52.52 to the Texas Medicaid Program. The child’s mother told investigators that she contacted Debra Smith about counseling her two daughters, but that Smith never followed through with the services, and that neither child was ever counseled by Smith. In addition to the single session billed on October 8, 2004, Smith billed Medicaid for providing 34 counseling sessions to “BNP” and 23 counseling sessions for her younger sister, “MGP.” Smith was unable to provide any documentation of having counseled “BNP on October 8, 2004, or of ever having counseled either of the sisters.

In documents filed in Court, Debra Smith admitted that she did not provide any of these services and that “BNP” and “MGP” are just two of several patients for whom she billed Medicaid for counseling services that she never rendered.

Debra Smith’s fraudulent Medicaid billings resulted in a total loss of $65,042.56 from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2006.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the excellent investigative work of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s Office - Medicaid Fraud Unit and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy R. Burch of the Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.

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