(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Indictments filed this month by the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost accuse five Medicaid providers of stealing a combined $542,176 from the government health-care program for the needy. Three additional people face charges for allegedly stealing from nursing home residents.
“Caregivers are meant to protect the vulnerable, not exploit them,” Yost said. “My office will never tolerate thieves who line their pockets at the expense of elderly, disabled and low-income Ohioans.”
The cases include two providers who billed for in-home services while traveling in the Caribbean, a home-health aide who billed while a client was hospitalized, and a Columbus man who allegedly stole money from a relative with dementia. One of the defendants alone accounts for more than $400,000 of the alleged fraud.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit , an arm of Yost’s office, investigated the cases and secured the indictments in Franklin County.
- Darnicia Burge, 27, of Cleveland, allegedly forged timesheets and double-billed for overlapping shifts at two jobs, resulting in a $1,969 loss for Medicaid. An investigation revealed 272 instances in which Burge billed for home-health services while her timesheets showed she was physically clocked into her other job at a care facility.
- Kimberly Henry, 56, of Columbus, is accused of billing for in-home services while her client was hospitalized for four months. The loss to Medicaid from October 2024 to February 2025 totaled $16,102.
- Ebony Jones, 23, of Akron, was charged after investigators calculated a $412,219 loss for Medicaid. Investigators initially found that she allegedly billed for in-home services during nine trips to Jamaica from 2022 through 2025. Further investigation revealed that she also billed for daily services to two clients who reported they had not seen her in three years.
- Robert Lomas, 62, of Defiance, was charged with Medicaid fraud in connection with his job as a licensed independent chemical dependency counselor. Billing records and client interviews revealed that he allegedly billed routinely for counseling that never took place, leading to a $106,620 loss for Medicaid.
- Columbus residents Astashiona McDonald, 26, and Diamond Tate, 27, were indicted on charges of forgery and theft from a person in a protected class for allegedly stealing $3,500 from a resident of a Columbus long-term-care facility. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit launched an investigation after the resident reported nine missing checks, two of which had been cashed. Investigators discovered the checks were written to and cashed by McDonald, whom the victim did not know. Tate, an aide at the facility and McDonald’s romantic partner, allegedly worked with McDonald to facilitate the theft.
- Brian Otler, 43, of Columbus, faces charges of theft from a person in a protected class and misuse of credit cards. From December 2024 to March 2025, he allegedly stole $35,335 from an elderly relative suffering from dementia. Evidence shows he accessed the relative’s bank accounts without authorization to pay off personal debt while the victim was living in a long-term-care facility.
- Tina Turner, 54, of Ironton, allegedly billed for services while traveling on Caribbean cruises in 2024 and 2025, causing a $5,266 loss for Medicaid. When questioned, she claimed the billing was justified because she routinely worked uncompensated hours, an assertion refuted by her clients. She ultimately acknowledged that billing for nonexistent services is fraud.
Ohio’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which operates within the Health Care Fraud Section, collaborates with federal, state and local partners to root out Medicaid fraud and protect vulnerable adults from harm. The unit investigates and prosecutes health-care providers who defraud the state Medicaid program and enforces the state’s Patient Abuse and Neglect Law.
Indictments are criminal allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in a court of law.
The Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $16,553,872 for federal fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25% – totaling $5,517,956 for FY 2026 – is funded by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
— Press Release
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