SOUTHEAST Mo. (Heartland News) – The Missouri Attorney General announced felony charges against 17 people in Medicaid fraud cases, including some in the Heartland.
According to Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, the fraud cases involve more than $450,000 in illegal schemes across the state that range from identity theft, personal care attendant fraud and adult daycare billing abuses.
In southeast Missouri, Hanaway said Maci Legrand and Christal Calhoun were charged for false claims totaling $27,743.26.
According to the attorney general’s office, Legrand was barred from serving as a caregiver after her Good Cause Waiver was denied due to her criminal history.
She allegedly enlisted Christal Calhoun to pose as the official attendant on paper while they split the nearly $28,000 in Medicaid payments for care that was allegedly not provided as claimed.
According to online court records,…
Identity theft is the “foundational” fraud upon which many other crimes are built. It involves the unauthorized acquisition and use of a person’s personal identifying information (PII), such as an ID number, Social Security number, or passport details.
- How it works: Fraudsters obtain PII through data breaches, mail theft, or “social engineering” (tricking people into revealing details). Once they have this data, they can open new bank accounts, apply for credit cards or loans, and even receive medical treatment under your name.
- Synthetic Identity Fraud: A sophisticated variation where criminals combine real and fabricated information to create a completely new, “synthetic” person. This is particularly difficult to detect because there is no single victim to report the suspicious activity initially.