MM Curator summary
[MM Curator Summary]: Joe Tamjong stole $733,405 by submitting fake claims, including multiple times he was out of the country.
The article below has been highlighted and summarized by our research team. It is provided here for member convenience as part of our Curator service.
Defendant Accused of Submitting Over $700,000 in Fraudulent Claims
WASHINGTON – Joseph Tamjong, 50, of Lanham, Maryland, was arrested today after being charged in federal court with defrauding the D.C. Medicaid program out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General for the region that includes Washington, D.C., and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.
Tamjong was charged in a criminal complaint with health care fraud and health care false statements. He is to make his initial appearance later today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
According to charging documents, between approximately December 2014 and the present, Tamjong has been employed as personal care aide and/or a participant-directed worker to provide personal care aide services to District of Columbia residents who need assistance performing activities of daily living, such as getting in and out of bed, bathing, dressing, and eating. Tamjong is alleged to have submitted false timesheets claiming that he provided such services when in fact he did not, including when he was traveling outside the United States on eight different trips. Charging documents allege that between December 2014 and February 2022, Medicaid issued payments totaling approximately $733,405 for personal care aide services that Tamjong purportedly provided as a personal care aide or participant-directed worker.
A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Today’s arrest marks a continued effort by the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, the District of Columbia’s Office of the Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute individuals who defraud the D.C. Medicaid program. Since August 2018, 11 former personal care aides have pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Six of those aides were sentenced to 13 months in prison; a seventh was sentenced to serve 15 months. An eleventh, Susan Tingwei—a licensed attorney—is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, 2022.
The government urges the public to provide tips and assistance to stop health care fraud. If you have information about individuals committing health care fraud, please call the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General hotline at (800) HHSTIPS [(800) 447-8477] or the D.C. Office of the Inspector General at (800) 724-TIPS [(800) 274-8477].
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Michon Tart.
Clipped from: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/maryland-man-charged-defrauding-medicaid-scheme-involving-personal-care-services