A Westford, Mass., woman has been convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of health care fraud, and three counts of money laundering in what the Department of Justice describes as a $100 million home health fraud scheme.
 
From January 2013 to January 2017, Faith Newton, 56, was a part owner and operator of Arbor Homecare Services LLC.
 
According to a DOJ release, evidence at trial demonstrated that Arbor, through Newton and others, failed to train staff, billed for home health services that were never provided or were not medically necessary and billed for home health services that were not authorized.
 
Arbor, through Newton and others, paid kickbacks for patient referrals, regardless of medical necessity. They also entered sham employment relationships with patients’ family members to provide home health aide services that were not medically necessary and routinely billed for fictitious visits that Newton knew did not occur. 
 
Newton used the laundered proceeds of the $100 million scheme to purchase a house and a Maserati.
 
The charges of health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and money laundering each provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of the money involved in the laundering. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.