A health care worker is facing state charges after an investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
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According to court papers filed recently, a special agent from Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office received word from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Inspector General’s Office that a tip had been received about a direct care worker employed through a Middletown Township firm who was not providing medical assistance and collecting a paycheck as part of Medicaid.
The state investigator pulled time sheets for Amina Taraa Harris, 47, of Philadelphia, from the local home health care company she was employed through for part of 2019 and 2022 and all of 2020 and 2021. The agent also obtained records that showed Harris was employed as the clinical director of nursing at a skilled care facility in Philadelphia, authorities said.
Using U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data, the agent also found out Harris was on trips to the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos during times she reported working through the direct care program, authorities said.
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A dive into the time records showed Harris fraudulently submitted time sheets and was paid nearly $58,500, the attorney’s general office said.
Harris was charged with false/fraudulent medical assistance claims, submit claim for services not rendered, submit claim with false information, submit claim for services not rendered by provider, theft, and tamper with public record/information. She was preliminarily arraigned and bail was set at $1,000 unsecured.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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