North Haven Business Owners, Ex-Employee Arrested In Fraud Case: Officials

NORTH HAVEN, CT — The co-owners of a North Haven business and a former employee have been arrested in connection with Medicaid fraud, according to authorities.

Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney on Jan. 7 arrested Venice Garner-Moore, Vernon Moore, and Tonya Jackson of Embrace Your Difference, LLC, of North Haven, a business that provides individual and couples counseling, life coaching, groups and workshops, according to a news release from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. They are accused of submitting fraudulent claims to Medicaid.

Venice Garner-Moore, 43, of East Haven, was charged with first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, conspiracy to commit health insurance fraud, first-degree identity theft, and conspiracy to commit first-degree identity theft.

Garner-Moore is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and enrolled as a Behavioral Health Clinician provider in the Connecticut Medicaid Program. She was a co-owner of Embrace Your Difference, LLC, according to the news release.

The arrest warrant affidavit reports that between December 2020 through April of 2023, Garner-Moore “conspired with one or more individuals to use the personal identifying information of Medicaid recipients without consent to submit claims to the State of Connecticut for services that were not provided,” according to the news release.

“She also billed for services performed by unlicensed individuals,” the news release states. “The claims submitted contained false, incomplete or misleading information and totaled $29,429.93 in fraudulent claims.”

Vernon T. Moore, 43, of East Haven, was charged with first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, and conspiracy to commit health insurance fraud.

“Moore was a co-owner of Embrace Your Difference, LLC,” officials wrote in the news release. “According to the arrest warrant affidavit, between January 2021 through April of 2023, Moore was unlicensed in the State of Connecticut and not permitted to perform behavioral health services. Moore conspired with one or more individuals to present claims to the State of Connecticut for services that were not provided. In addition, he provided services while he was unlicensed. These claims submitted contained false, incomplete or misleading information and totaled $8,232.81 in fraudulent claims.”

Tonya Jackson, 59, of New London, was charged with first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, conspiracy to commit health insurance fraud, first-degree identity theft, and conspiracy to commit first-degree identity theft.

Jackson previously worked for Embrace Your Difference, LLC. She was also employed by Family Reentry Incorporated, a court-authorized program facilitator for domestic violence education programs.

“According to the arrest warrant affidavit, between December 2020 and March 2021, Jackson was unlicensed in the State of Connecticut and not permitted to perform behavioral health services,” the news release states. “Jackson conspired with one or more individuals to use the personal identifying information of a Medicaid recipient without consent to submit claims to the State of Connecticut for services that were not provided. She also provided services while she was unlicensed. The claims submitted contained false, incomplete or misleading information and totaled $19,966.08 in fraudulent claims.”

Garner-Moore and Moore were both released from custody on a promise to appear and are scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Jan. 20. Jackson was released from custody on a promise to appear and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Jan. 16.

Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, Health Insurance Fraud and Identity Theft in the First Degree are all classified as B felonies and punishable by up to 20 years in prison, according to officials.

Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at 860-258-5986.