Date: 11-06-2024

Case Style:

United States of America v.Lucinda Perez

Case Number:

Judge: Unknown

Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (Bexar County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: The States United Attorney’s Office in San Antonio

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

cty, st criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with Defrauding Medicaid
Former Licensed Counselor Sentenced for Defrauding Medicaid

Lucinda Perez, 57, had been a licensed professional counselor since 2003 and worked as a sole practitioner performing home visits beginning in 2011. From no later than April 2015 through at least January 2023, she defrauded the Texas Medicaid program by submitting claims for child counseling services she did not perform. In some cases, Perez was out of town or in other states visiting various casinos during the time periods she had claimed in Medicaid filings. Billing records show Perez fraudulently received approximately $267,400 from service claims from Aug. 1, 2015 to July 31, 2019.

Perez was indicted for five counts of health care fraud and five counts of aggravated identity theft on Nov. 3, 2021. She was arrested Nov. 15, 2021. In addition to the probation, Perez was ordered to pay $267,402 in restitution.

“Not only did this defendant defraud the government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, she also abused the trust of families to whom she provided services,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “My office will continue to pursue cases of fraud, waste, and abuse of public health systems.”

The Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Chung and Kelly Stephenson prosecuted the case.

Outcome:

Defendant was found guilty and sentenced to five years of probation and six months of home confinement

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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