Hospice owner guilty of Medicaid fraud

By Gwinnett Daily Post Staff

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    ATLANTA (Gwinnett Daily Post) — Attorney General Chris Carr announced that Nourolzaman Tucker has pleaded guilty in DeKalb County Superior Court to one felony count of Medicaid fraud. Superior Court Judge Shondeana C. Morris accepted the plea and sentenced the defendant to five years to be served on probation. The court also ordered restitution in the amount of $5,681.86 and imposed a fine of $5,000. Tucker is now excluded from practicing as a provider of health care services under Medicaid and Medicare.

“We will not tolerate the abuse of Georgia’s Medicaid program as a means to steal from our citizens in their final moments of need,” Carr said. “Medicaid providers are expected to follow accurate and honest accounting practices, and those who choose to exploit this system will be held accountable. We will continue our efforts to save and protect taxpayer dollars, no matter the amount, while also preserving the integrity of Georgia’s publicly-funded health programs.”

Tucker owned Helping Hearts Hospice Inc., a company that provided end-of-life care for up to 20 patients at any given time. After allegations of improper billing were received by the Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, investigators began to review the defendant’s flight records spanning two years. These records revealed that Tucker frequently took flights out of the country on dates that the defendant claimed she had personally provided hospice care here in Georgia. Investigators also discovered an intentional pattern of overlapping billing and intentional overbilling, whereas drive time was not accounted for in billing between patients’ homes.

Investigator Tonia Medlin, Nurse Investigator Nancy Dickerson, Chief Nurse Investigator Judy Cooper, Forensic Auditor Phoenecia Hunt and Intel Analyst Zwella Boyd investigated and prepared the case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Henry A. Hibbert.

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