Press Release  Four Individuals Indicted in Connection With Personal Care Attendant Fraud

WOBURN — Attorney General Maura Healey announced today that four individuals have been indicted in connection with a scheme to falsely bill MassHealth’s Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program.

Richard Blake III, age 53 of Hudson, New Hampshire; Frank Berry, Jr., age 32, and Berry’s parents Frank Berry, Sr., age 63, and Patricia Berry, age 60, all of Tyngsborough, were indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury on the charges of Medicaid False Claims (1 count) and Larceny Over $1,200 (1 count).

The AG’s Office alleges that between February 24, 2016 and September 5, 2021, the defendants defrauded MassHealth by knowingly submitting false PCA timesheets claiming Berry, Jr. and Blake were providing services to Berry, Sr. and Patricia during times when they were working at other jobs.

The MassHealth PCA program helps people with chronic or long-term disabilities live independently in the community by providing medically necessary physical assistance with personal care needs. Through the consumer-driven MassHealth PCA program, eligible MassHealth members employ PCAs to assist them with their activities of daily living. These services are paid for by MassHealth through a fiscal intermediary.

This investigation and indictments follow years of efforts by AG Healey’s Medicaid Fraud Division to combat fraud and misconduct in the PCA program. In addition to securing indictments against seven individuals in a coordinated criminal sweep of fraud and abuse in the state’s PCA program in October 2020, the Division indicted a New Bedford man in July 2021 who allegedly defrauded the program by falsely billing for services he did not receive.

This case is being investigated and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Gregoire Ucuz and Senior Healthcare Fraud Investigator Aleksandra Andriyevskaya, both of the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, MassHealth, and the Stavros Center for Independent Living provided substantial assistance in this matter.

The AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award. The remaining 25 percent is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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