Officers with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit arrested yesterday the owner/operator of Good Hope Medical Supplies Inc. in Sugar Land for defrauding the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program.
Ephraim
The arrest follows Etta M. Ephraim’s March 24 indictment for theft by a governmental contractor. Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputies assisted in the arrest.
Ephraim, 44, whose durable medical equipment business address is on Annie’s Way, is charged with falsely billing the Medicaid program and illegally receiving reimbursements for services not provided.
According to state investigators, Ephraim billed Medicaid more than $46,800 for her services. Of that, reimbursements totaling $20,273 were improper. The illegal overbillings occurred between October 2004 and September 2006.
The Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
These cases always concern me. Billions in taxpayer dollars go on in this type of fraud.