(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced today that he is indicting a 47-year-old Cleveland Heights woman and the home health agency she operates on felony charges in connection with the alleged falsification of criminal background checks. Denise S. Marsh, owner of Beta Services Inc., is accused of forging Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation criminal background checks, thereby making it appear that her employees had clean records, when in fact many of them had disqualifying criminal convictions.

Marsh employed the disqualified individuals to provide home health services to PASSPORT Program consumers and sought Medicaid reimbursement of these services through the Ohio Department of Aging. Beta Services Inc. does business in Northeast Ohio under the name Home Helpers/Direct Link.

Marsh was indicted on 12 counts of forgery, one count of theft and one count of tampering with evidence. Beta Services Inc. was indicted on one count of theft by deception.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s office conducted the investigation that led to today’s indictment. That investigation is on-going.  Any prosecution on the criminal charges filed will be led by Cordray and his office.

“While additional criminal charges are expected, we wanted to act quickly to bar further delivery of services by this company and to protect the consumers at risk,” Cordray said. “We worked closely with the Ohio Department of Aging and the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging in Cleveland to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of home health services to the affected consumers. In addition to attacking waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid system, we also focus constantly on protecting Ohio citizens against criminal conduct involved in providing Medicaid services, as occurred here.”

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office investigates and prosecutes health care providers who defraud the state's Medicaid program and also enforces Ohio laws protecting mentally or physically disabled or elderly citizens from financial exploitation, neglect and abuse in long-term care facilities. Last year, the office’s Health Care Fraud Section recovered a record $91.4 million, breaking the previous year’s record of $65.2 million. Indictments increased from 164 in 2008 to 228 in 2009, and convictions rose from 187 to 215 last year.

Anyone who suspects patient abuse or neglect or Medicaid fraud can contact the Ohio Attorney General’s office at (800) 282-0515 or online at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.

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