Mom, son sentenced to pay nearly $770,000 for Medicaid fraud

A mother and son who pleaded guilty in a health care fraud case have been sentenced to pay nearly $770,000 in restitution to Medicaid.

An Oklahoma City federal judge also sentenced them to prison.

Deborah A. Gray, 51, was sentenced Thursday to 37 months in prison. Keith B. Gray II, 27, was sentenced Friday to one year and one day in prison.

Between October 2011 and May 2014, Deborah Gray owned DAG Counseling Services in Oklahoma City, according to prosecutors. The business provided behavioral health counseling services to Medicaid-eligible children, according to prosecutors. Keith Gray was a DAG Counseling employee, prosecutors reported.

They were accused of submitting false claims to Medicaid.

“The sentences in this case should send a message that fraud against our children and our taxpayers will not be tolerated,” Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said Friday.

During the mother’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge David L. Russell told her he was baffled by her actions.

“Why do this? Why cheat the government?” the judge asked.

Deborah Gray replied, “I don’t know if I was thinking.”

Her attorney told the judge Deborah Gray didn’t go into business intending to defraud Medicaid but “things got out of control.”

“Billing became fraudulent to keep the business going,” the defense attorney said.

Prosecutors, though, alleged the fraud wasn’t just to keep the business afloat but that Deborah Gray was profiting from it. They alleged Deborah Gray purchased a $750,000 house using proceeds from the fraud.

The mother and son, both of Oklahoma City, were indicted in July 2016 with 151 counts of health care fraud.

A grand jury meeting in Oklahoma City alleged they executed three schemes to defraud Medicaid. In January, they each pleaded guilty to three counts, one related to each scheme, documents show.

They submitted claims for services at the business when children were actually in transit, prosecutors stated in a news release Friday. They also submitted claims for services that exceeded a daily billing maximum and submitted claims for one-on-one services that were either not provided, provided in groups or provided for less time than was billed, prosecutors reported.

The judge ordered the mother and son to pay $769,578 in restitution.