Metro East Woman Pleads Guilty to Health Care and Public Housing Scams

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Shomanicka Holly, 36, of East Saint Louis, Illinois, pled guilty today to a 
two-count  felony  information  charging  her  with  health  care  fraud  and  making  materially  
false statements on a public housing form.

As part of her plea, Holly admitted to defrauding a government funded health care program by 
requesting  payment  for  services  that  she  never  performed.  The  Illinois  Department  of  
Human Services  (“IDHS”)  operates  a  program  known  as  the  Personal  Assistant  program,  
which  pays people  to  work  as  personal  assistants  for  qualified  disabled  individuals.  The 
 program,  which utilizes federal Medicaid funds, will only pay for work performed while the 
disabled individuals are present in their homes.

According to court documents, Holly served as a personal assistant to a qualified disabled person 
from August 2016 to June 2019. During that time, Holly submitted timesheets requesting payment for 
providing personal assistant services on dates and times when she was working at another job. In 
doing so, Holly defrauded the program out of funds by falsely certifying that she was at the 
disabled person’s home when, in fact, she was on the clock somewhere else.

In addition, Holly pled guilty to a separate charge of making materially false statements on a 
public housing  application.  Court  documents  alleged  that  Holly  received  public  housing  
assistance through a program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 
(“HUD”).

At her plea hearing, Holly acknowledged that she knowingly failed to disclose on her housing 
assistance  renewal  application  that  another  adult  resided  in  her  home  and  earned  
income.  The housing agency relied on this information to allocate its limited resources, including 
in determining whether  Holly  was  eligible  for  public  housing  assistance  and  the  amount  
of  assistance.  Holly withheld the information to receive more benefits than she was entitled to.

Health care fraud carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. Holly faces up to five years 
in prison for making a materially false statement on a housing form. She may also be fined up to 
$250,000 and ordered to pay restitution on each charge.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 13, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. in the federal courthouse in East St.
Louis, Illinois.

This  case  was  investigated  by  agents  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Health  and  
Human Services,  Office  of  Inspector  General  (HHS-OIG),  United  States  Department  of  
Housing  and Urban  Development,  Office  of  Inspector  General  (HUD-OIG),  and  the  Illinois  
State  Police, Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau (MFCB).
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Luke J. Weissler.