Shoshone County woman sentenced for provider fraud
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) – Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said a Shoshone County woman was sentenced Tuesday for provider fraud.
28-year-old Andrea Romo, of Kellogg, pleaded guilty September 9, 2020 to submitting false documentation for personal care services she did not provide.
The fraud was discovered when a neighbor of the Medicaid participant reported Romo had failed to come to her neighbor’s residence to perform services for three weeks and notified authorities of the neighbor’s deteriorating condition.
First District Judge Scott Wayman sentenced Romo to a judgment of conviction and imposed a sentence of three years with one and a half years fixed. The court retained jurisdiction, allowing Romo to be placed in a program where offenders can receive necessary treatment and programming. Upon successful completion of the program, an offender may be eligible for probation and a withheld judgment. Romo was not ordered to pay restitution because the false claims were reversed before payments were issued.
The case was investigated in a coordinated effort between the Medicaid Program Integrity Unit of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Idaho Attorney General. The case was prosecuted by Ken Robins, a deputy attorney general in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
