Milwaukee Woman indicted for perpetrating a $2.3 Million health care fraud

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By Steve Schuster

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Markita Barnes, owner of Milwaukee-based ‘Here For You Prenatal Care Coordination Services‘ —one of the largest prenatal care organizations in the Badger State — has been charged by a Grand Jury for stealing $2.3 million in Medicaid funds slated for preventing baby’s deaths.

Barnes was indicted for multiple counts of Health Care Fraud and False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347 and 18 U.S.C. § 1035, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b, Obstruction of a Healthcare Fraud Investigation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1518, Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957, and Aggravated Identity Theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, according to the 20-count felony indictment obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal.

According to the indictment, from October 2020 through November 2021, Barnes owned Here For You, which was a prenatal care coordination (PNCC) agency operating in Milwaukee. PNCC agencies are reimbursed by Medicaid when they provide services intended to address Wisconsin’s historically high rate of infant mortality among at-risk populations, according to officials.

“Specifically, PNCC services are supposed to ensure that women at high risk are identified as early as possible in their pregnancies, receive psychosocial support, prenatal care services, and health and nutrition education, and are referred to available community services that they need to help them achieve positive birth and parenting outcomes,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a written statement.

The indictment alleges that Barnes offered and provided kickbacks to induce women to sign up for prenatal care coordination services with Here For You, and then allegedly submitted millions of dollars of fraudulent claims for services never actually provided to those women.

Barnes also allegedly submitted claims for services she contended were provided to her clients before she or anyone from her agency had ever met the client.

If convicted, Barnes faces a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for each count of Aggravated Identity Theft, up to twenty years in prison for each count of Health Care Fraud, up to ten years in prison for each count of Anti-Kickback Statute violations and Money Laundering, and up to five years in prison for each count of False Statements and Obstruction.

If convicted, Barnes would also forfeit and property derived from the proceeds traceable to the offense, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 982 a7 and 28 U.S.C. § 2461c.

This property includes a diamonds, a Rolex watch, and older model Audi Q8, and a $75,000 Mercades Benz Barnes allegedly laundered money through the purchase from an Illinois car dealership.

“One of the primary reasons the Department of Justice focuses on prosecuting health care fraud is to ensure public funds are used to help the people they are designed to help, and not to unfairly enrich others at the expense of the public and those who desperately need these services,” said U.S. Attorney Haanstad.

“We are committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to hold individuals who seek to take advantage of these programs for their own benefit fully accountable for their actions,” Haanstad added.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit of the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigated the case, which Assistant United States Attorneys Julie F. Stewart and Kate M. Biebel will prosecute.

As previously reported by the Wisconsin Law Journal, healthcare fraud and medical malpractice come with a hefty price tag. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association estimates that the financial losses due to health care fraud are in the tens of billions of dollars each year.