A Minnesota mother and son are accused of billing Medicaid for more than $130,000 in services that were never provided, including hundreds of shifts the son allegedly logged as a caregiver while records showed him at another job, according to court documents filed Friday.
Angela Ruth Johnson, 59, of Rogers, is charged with six counts of theft by false representation, court documents show. Her son, 32-year-old Mark Anthony Johnson of Brooklyn Park, is charged with four counts of the same offense.
According to a criminal complaint, Mark Johnson worked as a personal care assistant from June 2021 through June 2023. During that time, he reported providing waiver services to Angela Johnson through Always on Time Health Services, Inc., based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The complaint says that on more than 350 occasions, his time sheets showed him providing those services while he was documented…
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.