Attorney General's News Release

April 6, 2000

Former speech pathologist given five years after pleading guilty to 23 counts of stealing and Medicaid fraud

Paris, Mo. — Former speech pathologist Julie A. Roberts pleaded guilty today in Monroe County Circuit Court to 23 criminal counts related to her defrauding of the Missouri Medicaid program. Roberts, who formerly practiced in Hannibal and now lives in Springfield, was given a five-year prison sentence on each count, with each of the terms to run concurrent. She also has entered into a consent judgment for $205,695 with the state of Missouri to resolve a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Jay Nixon in connection with the fraud.

The criminal complaint against Roberts, filed last September by Nixon and Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Thomas P. Redington, charged her with five counts of felony stealing by deceit and 18 counts of submitting false statements to the state Medicaid program in order to receive payments for services she did not provide. The case was transferred to Monroe County on a change of venue.

"Ms. Roberts abused the Medicaid program for her personal gain, including buying luxury cars with taxpayer money," Nixon said. "We will continue to take aggressive action against those who rip off the state in this manner."

Between July 1998 and February 1999, Roberts submitted billing statements for more than $200,000 to the Missouri Medicaid program for speech therapy services she did not provide and that she used those false statements to receive payment from the state. Roberts either never performed the procedures that were billed or, in some cases, the actual services performed were less and would have been reimbursed at a much lower rate. Nixon said in many instances Roberts submitted claims for services in excess of 24 hours in a single day.

Deputies from the Marion County Sheriff's Department last year seized several late-model vehicles — including a 1999 BMW Z3 and a 1998 Jaguar XK8 — from Roberts as part of a prejudgment attachment obtained by Nixon. Roberts' known bank accounts also were frozen by the court. Those assets, along with Roberts' house, will be used to satisfy the consent judgment.

Both the civil and criminal cases against Roberts were pursued by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which has authority to investigate and prosecute allegations of fraud committed upon the state's Medicaid program.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818