2 Stole Thousands Of Dollars In Medicaid Funds, Received Sentences In Mid-Hudson Valley

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — Two mid-Hudson Valley women pleaded guilty to falsifying time sheets in order to steal Medicaid funds. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Friday that Tina Gabel of Poughkeepsie and Enny Portillo of Highland Mills admitted to stealing from the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), a home care program funded by Medicaid. CDPAP allows a physically disabled individual or their representative to assume full responsibility for their home care and recruit, hire, train, supervise and fire the personal assistants providing the care.

“We will hold accountable those who steal from the Medicaid program,” Schneiderman said. “I am pleased that we are able to return stolen funds back to Medicaid, which will be put directly back towards helping those in need.”

Portillo, 59, admitted that she knowingly verified false time sheets submitted to Priority Home Care Services, Inc., a fiscal intermediary for CDPAP, claiming that CDPAP services were provided in her Orange County home to her relative between February 2010 and November 2011 by the personal assistant, another relative, while the recipient was out of the country.

[Get Patch’s Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts here.]

Gabel, 59, admitted that she knowingly submitted false timesheets to AccentCare of New York, Inc., a fiscal intermediary for CDPAP, which claimed that home-care services were provided to two of her relatives in Dutchess County between October 2011 and February 2015 when in fact the personal assistant, another relative, was not in Dutchess County. As the relatives’ representative, Tina Gabel was responsible to oversee CDPAP care for both relatives and to submit and verify the accuracy of their assistants’ timesheets submitted to AccentCare.

Gabel pled guilty to third-degree grand larceny, a felony, in Dutchess County Court on Feb. 17, 2017. On April 21, 2017, she paid $113,584 in restitution and was sentenced to five years of probation.

Portillo pled guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, in Orange County Court on March 9, 2017. She has already paid $75,812 in restitution, and was sentenced to five years of probation with 300 hours of community service.

Image via Shutterstock.