By Marissa Dechant – Staff writer
A Rouseville woman is facing felony charges for allegedly billing Medicaid nearly $10,000 in fraudulent claims between January and May 2015.
A criminal complaint filed through District Judge Matthew Kirtland’s office said the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducted an investigation involving fraudulent claims submitted to the state Department of Human Services through the medical assistance program between Jan. 26 and May 15, 2015.
The investigation centered on Kimber Forsell, 46, who, acting as a personal care attendant, billed for attendant care services that were not provided to her “ex-husband” Brian Forsell and were paid by Public Partnerships, LLC., a financial intermediary, the complaint said.
Brian Forsell was shown all of the Public Partnerships timesheets that Kimber Forsell submitted with his signature, but he advised that he didn’t sign any of the sheets, the complaint said.
Kimber Forsell was then interviewed and acknowledged that she submitted the timesheets in order to be paid in Medicaid funds, the complaint said. She said she filled out the timesheets and Brian Forsell signed off on them, according to the complaint.
Kimber Forsell further advised that her daughter would work some of the hours, and she paid her daughter in cash, the complaint said.
A marriage license for the Forsells was obtained from the Venango County Courthouse, and there was no record of divorce, according to the complaint.
It was found that Kimber Forsell had checked that she was not Brian Forsell’s spouse on a direct care worker application in order to qualify for employment, the complaint said.
In another interview, Kimber Forsell said she and Brian Forsell were married until his death, and she didn’t remember checking the box that indicated they were not spouses, the complaint said.
The results of the investigation concluded that Kimber Forsell caused the Pennsylvania Medicaid program to be billed for 1,005 hours, the complaint said.
This resulted in $9,435 worth of Medicaid-paid funds to be issued to her, although she was not entitled to them, the complaint said.
Kimber Forsell is facing felony counts of fraudulent medical assistance claim and theft by deception, in addition to a misdemeanor count of tampering with records.
She was arraigned before Kirtland and released on $10,000 unsecured bail.
A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled Sept. 20 in Central Court.
