MACON, Ga. — Two women connected to a Macon business are charged with submitting more than $100,000 in false claims to federal heath care programs.
A federal indictment says Brenda Hicks and Lisa Deal billed the government for hundreds of treatments that never happened.
They worked at Middle Georgia Family Rehab on Mercer University Drive. The business also has a Byron Office.
The company provided various therapy services and billed federal insurance programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare.
The indictment says Hicks and Deal submitted more than 1,700 services by people who no longer worked for them.
They're also accused of submitted dozens of bills for work by a man who was actually in jail. In the indictment, it says that they submitted more than 90 claims for for services that happened when the therapist was incarcerated.
Hicks, who owns the business, and Dead, a clerk, each face dozens of charges including health care fraud, identity theft and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Back in June 2022, a federal judge found Middle Georgia Family Rehab on the hook for over $9.5 million to be paid to the U.S. government for their fraudulent billings, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Georgia.
In the civil proceedings, the courts found that Middle Georgia Family Rehab "knowingly submitted the false claims" and that their actions "epitomizes 'reckless disregard for the truth," according to the press release.
They said in the press release that the 41 claims that were filed following a speech therapist resigned could not be considered an "honest mistake," the U.S. Attorneys Office said.