Manchester Woman Implicated In Medicaid Fraud Scheme Involving Nurse Impersonation: Warrant

MANCHESTER, CT — Two women — including one from Manchester — have been arrested and charged in connection with a scheme to defraud the Medicaid program by impersonating a licensed nurse and assaulting a disabled person, according to the state Department of Criminal Justice.

The announcement was made Thursday.

Karen Wurst, 71, of Raleigh, NC and the owner of NurseSpan, LLC, was charged on Dec. 22, with health insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit health insurance fraud, first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, conspiracy to commit larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, first-degree Identity theft, conspiracy to commit first-degree identity theft, 18 counts of violation of licensing requirements and 18 counts of conspiracy to commit violation of licensing r.

Suzean Langan, 48, of Manchester, was charged on Jan. 12 with first-degree assault of a disabled person, health Insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit health insurance fraud, first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, conspiracy to commit larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, first-degree identity theft, conspiracy to commit first-degree identity theft, 18 counts of violation of licensing requirements and 18 counts of conspiracy to commit violation of licensing requirements.

The two are accused of "conspiring to misrepresent nursing qualifications, placing patients at significant risk," authorities said.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit for both, Wurst ran a nursing staffing agency called NurseSpan, LLC, located in West Hartford, which hires nurses and aides to supplement staff at certain facilities around the state of Connecticut.

According to the warrant, while running NurseSpan, LLC, Wurst used the nursing identification number of a nurse, without that nurse’s permission, to fabricate the credentials of Langan, who made herself out to be a Licensed Practical Nurse from June 2022 to March 2023. Langan was then sent to multiple facilities, 18 in total, identifying herself and acting as a LPN, even though she did not attend nursing school, was never trained, and never obtained a nursing license, according to the warrant.

Langan's behavior included "medicine administration and care for medically complex and fragile individuals and completion of medical records," according to the warrant. Wurst then billed the facilities $133,682.75 for Medicaid qualified services, according to the warrant.

In one instance, investigators said Langan performed a medical procedure on a Medicaid recipient involving the operation of a gastronomy tube or G-tube, a device that delivers fluids and medication directly into the patient’s stomach and, during this unauthorized procedure, the patient suffered severe complications, including choking, vomiting, loss of consciousness, and aspiration pneumonia, according to the warrant.

Wurst was released on a $75,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Feb. 18. Langan was released on two $50,000 bonds and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Jan. 23.

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DOJ officials said larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud, identity theft in the first degree and conspiracy to commit identity theft in the first degree are classified as B felonies and punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

DOJ officials said assault in the first degree on a disabled person is also a B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, with a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. Violation of licensing requirements and conspiracy to commit violation of licensing requirements are classified as D felonies and punishable by up to five years in prison., they said.