Press Release  Tewksbury Woman Pleads Guilty, Sentenced for Submitting False Timesheets after Patient’s Hospitalization and Death

Woburn — A Tewksbury woman has pleaded guilty and been sentenced in connection with a scheme to defraud the state’s Medicaid Program (MassHealth), Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

On Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court, Dawna Demarco, age 33, of Tewksbury pleaded guilty to Medicaid False Claims (1 count) and Larceny Over $250 (1 count). After the plea was entered, Judge Maureen Hogan sentenced DeMarco to one year in the House of Correction, suspended for three years, with the conditions that she is prohibited from providing any service that is billed directly or indirectly to MassHealth and that she pay restitution of up to $12,360.

“This defendant took advantage of our MassHealth system and stole health care resources from Massachusetts taxpayers and patients,” said AG Healey. “We will investigate those who commit this fraud and take action to ensure that it does not continue.” 

DeMarco, who was hired through MassHealth to be a Personal Care Attendant (PCA) for her aunt, submitted false timesheets claiming that she had provided PCA services to her aunt in September and October 2016, on dates when her aunt was in the hospital. DeMarco continued submitting timesheets for services for her aunt through April 2017, after DeMarco’s aunt had died. As a result of the defendant’s submission of these false timesheets, MassHealth paid in excess of $10,000 to the defendant through a fiscal intermediary. DeMarco was indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury in September 2017.

PCAs are paid by MassHealth, through a fiscal intermediary, to help provide disabled members with activities of daily living, including basic health care services. MassHealth regulations stipulate that PCA services cannot be rendered when the MassHealth member eligible for PCA services is in an inpatient hospital facility.

This matter was investigated by Fraud Examiner Michelle Webber of the Bureau of Special Investigations of State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Stephany Collamore and was investigated by Investigator Aleksandra Andriyevskaya, both of the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division. Northeast Arc, the fiscal intermediary, also assisted with the investigation.

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