The owner and operator of Metro Atlanta Counseling Services was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for falsely billing more than $200,000 in Medicaid, the Georgia Department of Law said on Monday.
Catherine Pinkard, of Clayton County, held child and adolescent counseling services, as well as in-home mental health services, and was enrolled in the Georgia Medicaid program from October 2007 through January 2012, according to a Department of Law press release. She reportedly submitted false Medicaid claims for services that were not conducted, authorized and documented.
Payments were then entered into a bank account that Pinkard controlled, and she ultimately was given about $214,560 to which she was not entitled, the Department of Law said.
A jury convicted her of one felony count of Medicaid fraud and one felony count of theft.
“Ms. Pinkard thought she could cheat Georgia Medicaid without getting caught,” Attorney General Sam Olens said in the release. “She was sorely mistaken, and her actions have earned her a substantial prison sentence.”
Olens added that his office is working with the Department of Community Health to “aggressively pursue Medicaid fraud.”
According to the company's website, Metro Atlanta Counseling Services offers therapy and counseling aimed to "help consumers learn how to behave responsible [sic] at home, school and in the community."
Pinkard is the author of the book The Walking Wounded, which focuses on verbal and emotional abuse.
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