Nurse admits to Medicaid fraud

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A nurse in Erie County has admitted to stealing money from Medicaid by falsely claiming work she never did.

Licensed Practical Nurse Liane P. Tomlinson, 33, of Hamburg, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $27,000 over 17 months by submitting false claims for private-duty nursing services that she never provided to six disabled children, according to the New York state Attorney General’s Office.

On Thursday, in Erie County Court, Tomlinson pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny. She faces probation or one to four years in state prison when she is sentenced March 16. Tomlinson must pay $27,186.46 in restitution to the state.

The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit uncovered the wrongdoing after Tomlinson submitted 105 claims for payment to Medicaid in which she falsely claimed that she provided private-duty nursing services. The false claims included times when she was in Canada caring for a private-pay patient, when she was in Florida on vacation, when another nurse provided the care, and after she had been fired by a patient’s mother, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Even when she was aware of the investigation, Tomlinson continued to submit false claims to Medicaid. She submitted 46 of the 105 false claims during a five-week period in 2016 when nursing and medical records obtained investigators showed that Tomlinson was housebound, recovering from complications resulting from an elective surgery. Those 46 claims totaled $14,251.90, prosecutors said.