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Nurse sentenced in Medicaid fraud A Licensed Practical Nurse convicted of stealing more than $3,000 from Medicaid by submitting false bills while employed in the home of a disabled resident of North Massapequa , was sentenced last week. Susan Mazur-Cahill, 44, of Center Moriches, was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay restitution and penalties. The nurse claimed she was taking care of the patient when in fact she was on vacation in Florida and Mexico. She was sentenced before Judge Joseph Santorelli in the First District Court of Suffolk County following an investigation. The case was handled by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office. Special Assistant Attorney General James P. Clarke, under the supervision of Special Deputy Attorney General Heidi Wendel, Chief of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit prosecuted the case. It came to the attention of the attorney general's office after a sudden increase in her Medicaid bills. A review of credit cards, and airline travel records revealed that she took three separate vacations between October 2004 and July 2005 for a total of 12 days. She then submitted documents indicating that she had provided care during that time to a disabled patient in North Massapequa. "This nurse tried to have the state pay her for going on vacation." said Cuomo. "My office will not tolerate such blatant abuses of the Medicaid system for personal benefits. We will not cease in our efforts to preserve patients' rights and ensure that taxpayers' money is used properly." On July 11, 2007, Cahill denied intentionally over billing Medicaid and attributed the payments she received to billing errors. Her billing records, however, indicated that she had initially been denied the payments for her 12 vacation days and subsequently resubmitted documents. She also repeatedly submitted bills for her vacation dates even after she had received payments. Cahill was arrested and arraigned in August 2007 in the First District Court of Suffolk County and pleaded guilty to Petit Larceny. She has handed over solicited billing records and has repaid restitution of 6,932.50 for all of the money she stole, plus a penalty which will go to the state. If you believe you may know of any instances of Medicaid Fraud, call Cuomo's Anti-Fraud Tip Line
Toll Free) at 866-NYS-FIGHT [866 - 697 - 3444].
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