(The Center Square)- A licensed nurse practitioner from Spokane is facing 68 criminal charges after being accused by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office of defrauding Medicaid by $5 million.
The state has filed charges in Spokane County Superior Court against Paul Means, 59, and his business, Abilia Healthcare. He now awaits prosecution for 43 counts of making false Medicaid statements, 20 counts of money laundering, two counts of criminal profiteering, first-degree theft and leading organized crime.
While all the charges are felonies, the latter carries the most stringent penalties. If found guilty of leading organized crime, Means faces a potential life sentence and fine of up to $50,000.
n a press release issued late last week, the attorney general’s office wrote that prosecutors would seek a sentence above the standard range. Officials said more time behind bars was warranted for Means due to “the high degree of sophistication, lengthy period of time, and scale of the monetary loss” involved in the case.
Source: AG charges Spokane nurse practitioner with $5M in Medicaid fraud / The Center Square