Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that Tanya Lagae Troup, 43, of Las Vegas, was sentenced this week for submitting false Medicaid claims for behavioral health services that were not provided. Troup entered a guilty plea to one count of intentional failure to maintain adequate records, a gross misdemeanor. The fraud was committed between March and September 2012.
Eighth Judicial District Court Judge Carolyn Ellsworth sentenced Troup to 364 days of jail, suspended, and payment of more than $15,400 in restitution. She was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. Troup immediately paid the full amount of restitution.
According to court documents, Troup provided behavioral health services through Serenity Mental Health, a company that provides services such as substance abuse and rehabilitative mental health services. These services included therapy and other interventions designed to teach constructive cognitive and behavioral skills. An investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) revealed that Troup created and submitted fraudulent service documentation to Serenity Mental Health for services she failed to provide to Medicaid recipients. The MFCU discovered that while Troup was outside the state and unavailable to provide services, she asserted that she had provided services to several Medicaid recipients. In her documentation, she also asserted that she had provided services to a family of Medicaid recipients after the date the family had moved out of the state.
To view the criminal information, click here. Ten Medicaid patients were referenced in redacted form in the complaint as examples of Troup’s failure to maintain adequate records and to defraud Medicaid.
If the name “Serenity Mental Health” sounds vaguely familiar, note that this site recently reported on the sentencing of Erik Badgett, who was also employed at the same facility.