Businesswoman defrauds state of Maine

A business owner from Maine recently plead guilty to defrauding the state out of $4 million. The Lewiston Sun Journal reports that Dawn Cummings Solomon admitted to stealing the money from MaineCare by over-billing for hours and expenses. Solomon's business, Living Independence Network, billed MaineCare for more hours and expenses than it owed starting in January 2006. Michael Miller, the director of the Attorney General's Healthcare Crimes Unit, said that an investigation had led his department to file charges against Solomon. Employees had received payments, subsidized by the state, for hours they had never worked. A simple credit check may have prevented the government agency from getting duped and paying theunearned wages, while background checks may have uncovered past offenses of those involved. "What she was doing was inflating the actual hours of service that were provided," Miller told the paper. "There was a gentleman who performed building maintenance services and repairs, including on the private residences of Mrs. Solomon and her parents. His salary between 2006 and 2009 was $380,000." The federal government has been cracking down on fraud within the medical industry. TC Palm reports that officials have begun investigating Medicare fraud and overspending in South Florida.