Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrest of Darnell Davon Nash, 30, of Cleveland, Ohio, on sixty-nine counts of filing false claims with the Alabama Medicaid Agency and one count of trafficking in stolen identities.
The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit presented evidence to the August 2014 term of the Montgomery County grand jury, resulting in an indictment* charging Nash for his role in the filing of numerous false claims for payment to the Alabama Medicaid Agency and being in possession of identifying information of approximately twenty-five Alabama Medicaid recipients. Nash currently is in federal custody on an unrelated fraud conviction and is being transported to Alabama by the U.S. Marshal Service. A trial date is set for March 9, 2015.
It is alleged that Nash, along with a co-defendant, established a fictitious business named Chase Farms Group and enrolled the business as an Alabama Medicaid provider. They then obtained, by deceit, the Medicaid Provider ID of a north Alabama physician’s office, by stating they ran a counseling service and wanted the physician’s office to be their medical provider. The physician’s office became suspicious when they attempted to contact Nash, who had used an alias, to inquire about the partnership. The scheme also involved the distribution of flyers to Medicaid recipients throughout the Birmingham area, advertising assistance with obtaining government subsidies. As victims would call the number provided and give their identifying information, Nash and his co-defendant would then bill Medicaid for alleged services provided by the physician’s office using the stolen information.
*An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
SOURCE: Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange