Michelle Troconis’ mother faced her own legal trouble

Marisela Arreaza has been in Connecticut this week supporting her daughter, who has been charged in connection with Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance.

Michelle Troconis, 44, and her boyfriend Fotis Dulos, 51, have each been charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution.

Troconis blew air kisses to Arreaza and other family members when she was arraigned Monday before posting bail.

On Thursday, Arreaza accompanied her daughter when she met for several hours with the state’s attorney and state police investigators at her attorney’s Westport office.

But back in Florida, Arreaza faced her own trouble with the law in 2016.

Arreaza and another woman were indicted on federal Medicaid fraud charges. Arreaza was accused of paying at least one person to become a Medicaid patient in her behavioral health practice, D & D Psych. The practice provided behavioral health counseling to children and adults in Miami-Dade County.

According to federal documents, Arreaza and the co-defendant paid the person more than $19,000 in 2012 and 2013 so the practice could receive Medicaid payments. Court filings indicate that federal agents believed the practice was offering rides to “counseling” sessions to potential clients with the drivers providing a kickback to anyone who agreed to receive Medicaid benefits.

Arreaza closed the practice after being indicted and turned the office into a space for her “legal team” working on her defense, court papers said. Federal authorities accused Arreaza of paying D & D employees to work on her defense so they couldn’t be interviewed by federal agents. Arreaza’s attorney then sought to suppress evidence later gathered at the space, since it was then considered a “law office” dedicated to her defense, court papers said.

Arreaza, who lives in Miami Beach, Fla., and the co-defendant agreed to plead guilty in 2017 to offering health care kickbacks.

The case was dismissed last December after Arreaza and the co-defendant were approved for a pretrial diversion program.

Troconis, who is required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet while free on $500,000 bond, is scheduled to be back in court on Tuesday.

A source close to the case confirmed Troconis and her Westport attorney, Andrew Bowman, met Thursday with State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo and state police investigators. Colangelo declined to comment about the meeting.

Police had previously said she and Fotis Dulos had not cooperated with their investigation, but it was not immediately known if Troconis provided any valuable information on Thursday.

According to divorce documents filed in 2017 by Jennifer Dulos, she claimed her husband began having an affair with Troconis the previous year. After Jennifer Dulos and the children moved to New Canaan when she filed for divorce, Troconis and her daughter moved into Fotis Dulos’ Jefferson Crossing home in Farmington.

Jennifer Dulos was last seen two weeks ago dropping off her children at New Canaan Country School around 8 a.m. on May 24. After she was reported missing that night, police said they found signs of a “serious physical assault” and blood spatter in the garage of her Welles Lane home.

Troconis, a CEO and mother, and Fotis Dulos were caught on security video that night throwing garbage bags into more than 30 trash receptacles in Hartford, according to their arrest warrants. The bags contained Jennifer Dulos’ blood, the warrants said.

Authorities have been focusing on properties connected to Fotis Dulos’ custom homebuilding company, the Fore Group. Neighbors at one of the homes in New Canaan said they were woken up the morning after Jennifer Dulos disappeared by loud banging coming from a Fore Group-owned property.

State police investigators spent several hours Friday at Fotis Dulos’ Jefferson Crossing home, but New Canaan Police Lt. Jason Ferraro said there was no new information to be released about the investigation.