The owner of a Clayton County-based counseling program has been accused of bilking Georgia Medicaid for more than $100,000.
Catherine Pinkard, owner of Metro Atlanta Counseling Services, was indicted Wednesday by a Clayton County grand jury on charges of Medicaid fraud and theft by taking, said Lauren Kane, a spokeswoman for State Attorney General Sam Olens.
Prosecutors say that between August 2009 and May 2012, Pinkard billed Medicaid for fraudulent claims, purporting to have offered services which either hadn’t been rendered, weren’t documented or could not have been performed.
In one example, prosecutors said Pinkard submitted services provided by the same employee for multiple patients at the same time.
Based upon those claims, Kane said money from Georgia Medicaid was then paid to Pinkard’s bank account.
Pinkard faces up to 10 years in prison for each charge, and could be ordered to pay a $100,000 fine for the theft by taking charge and $10,000 for the Medicaid fraud accusation.