Lake Elmo woman convicted in $3.6M Medicaid Housing Services fraud scheme
(FOX 9) - A Lake Elmo woman has been convicted in a scheme to steal $3.6 million from the Minnesota Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program.
$3.6M Housing Stabilization fraud scheme
What we know:
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Sharmaine Meadows, 45, schemed to bill the HSS Program for housing services that were meant to help unhoused people transition into housing and sustain that housing.
Prosecutors say Meadows never provided those services.
The DOJ says that the HSS Program allowed companies to bill up to 150 hours for transitional housing services and 150 hours for services sustaining housing.
Meadows often told her employees at her company, Cradle of Love, they were "required" to "maximize" the billings to that 150-hour cap, despite some of the services never being provided, according to the DOJ.
Evidence presented at trial shows meeting agendas where Meadows would speak to her employees about maximizing hours.
The DOJ says Meadows also billed the HSS Program for in-person services done by employees who lived in different states or even different countries.
One piece of evidence presented in the trial showed an offer letter to a person who lived in the Philippines, offering them only $6 an hour, no health insurance, no paid time off or sick time.
She also submitted claims that her employees were working 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
Dig deeper:
Medicaid beneficiaries testified in trial that they received basically no services from Meadows' company, and were told several times by her employees that they had run out of available hours in the program despite not giving assistance.
Meadows's company received $3.6 million between 2020 and 2025. She was convicted of three counts of health care fraud and could face up to 10 years in prison for each count.
What we don't know:
The DPJ did not say when Meadows would be sentenced.
The Source: A press release from the Department of Justice.