NEWBURYPORT – The local home nursing business owner and assistant charged with filing false Medicare claims for patients who no longer lived in their homes were recently indicted by a New Hampshire grand jury, the Attorney General said by New Hampshire John M. Formella.
Michael A. Maggiacomo, 50, and Tina M. Allen, 46, both of Newburyport, were each charged with two Class B crimes for Medicaid fraud and two Class A crimes for theft. Maggiacomo was also charged with a Class B crime for submitting false records and submitting forged documents in response to an audit.
Maggiacomo owns Alerion Home Care and Wellness Solutions, a home care company. According to the charges, he and Allen, an employee of Alerion, filed claims with New Hampshire Medicaid for home care services that were not actually provided because the patients were away from home.
Court documents state that Maggiacomo took control of over $ 1,500 worth of Medicaid funds from the state of New Hampshire between August 1, 2018 and June 30, 2020.
The charges also allege that Allen and Maggiacomo, when investigating the Program Integrity Division of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, produced fake health insurance notices to support Alerion’s false Medicaid claims, according to Formella.
From October 2014 to October 2017, Alerion Home Care and Wellness Solutions maintained a location in the Atkinson building in downtown Newburyport before moving to the Woburn Trader Center complex, according to client Newburyport Development.
A company-operated website stopped working when a reporter tried to visit the site. According to Maggiacomo’s LinkedIn network page, the company was founded in Newburyport in November 2014.
Maggiacomo will be tried in Merrimack County Superior Court on June 16, and Allen will be tried in the same courthouse on July 1.
The maximum penalty for any Medicaid fraud or false record is three and a half to seven years in prison. The maximum penalty for any theft by fraud is seven and a half to 15 years in prison.
The charges and allegations are merely accusations and Allen and Maggiacomo are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Allen and Maggiacomo were arrested on charges in South Berwick, Maine, in mid-February, according to a published report.
Dave Rogers is a contributor to The Daily News of Newburyport. Email to: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ drogers41008.
