Attorney General Moody Announces Arrest of Home Health Aide Employee for Withholding Services from Disabled Adult
Attorney General Ashley Moody News Release
Attorney General Moody Announces Arrest of Home Health Aide Employee for Withholding Services from Disabled Adult
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office today arrested a Duval County home health aide employee for falsifying time spent helping a disabled Medicaid recipient. According to the MFCU investigation, Diane Johnson did not provide any services to a disabled adult for five weeks, and instead sat in the car outside of the patient’s home. Unable to care and clean the house due to a disability, the patient's home became a mess and Johnson refused to do the services required.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Not only did this home health aide employee rip off a taxpayer-funded program, but she also withheld services from a patient in need of care. My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit uncovered these crimes, and now the suspect in this case will have to answer for her decisions not to provide care.”
The investigation began when a social worker visited the house of the disabled adult and found Johnson sitting in the car outside. The social worker called Tamba Momorie, the owner of Tambolina Services Inc., the home and community-based service provider company that employed Johnson. Momorie drove to the home and found Johnson sitting in the car. After confronting Johnson, Momorie claimed that Johnson violently cursed and fled the scene and never returned—stealing the tablet the company provided.
Johnson faces one count of Medicaid fraud, a third-degree felony, and one count of grand theft, also a third-degree felony. If convicted, Johnson faces up to 10 years in prison and more than $25,000 in fines. Attorney General Moody’s MFCU will prosecute this case with the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
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The Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and prosecutes providers that intentionally defraud the state’s Medicaid program through fraudulent billing practices. Medicaid fraud essentially steals from Florida’s taxpayers. From January 2019 to the present, Attorney General Moody’s MFCU has obtained more than $112 million in settlements and judgments.
The Florida MFCU is funded through a grant totaling $27,734,297 for Federal Fiscal Year 2022, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. The Federal Share of these funds is 75% totaling $20,800,724. The State Matching Share of these funds is 25% totaling $6,933,573 and is funded by Florida.
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