OKLAHOMA CITY – A former Oklahoma woman who operated behavioral health facilities in Oklahoma City and Edmond was convicted of multiple counts of Medicaid fraud.
Janice Cassandra Wrenn – formerly known as Janice Briggs, Janice Oliver and Janice Roberson – was found guilty of five counts of Medicaid fraud by an Oklahoma County jury after a five-day trial last December; she was acquitted of a Medicaid fraud conspiracy charge.
The offenses consisted of literally hundreds of fraudulent claims that occurred in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, and the charges were filed in 2016, court records show.
The jury assessed a total of $281,273 in fines on the fraud convictions. In addition, at the sentencing hearing on March 22 the court ordered financial restitution for the convictions at $393,934.86.
“Medicaid fraud steals taxpayer money that is intended to pay for medical care for low-income Oklahoma citizens,” Attorney General John O’Connor said. “My office remains dedicated to partnering with local, state, and federal agencies to combat fraud and abuse of the state’s Medicaid program that helps vulnerable Oklahomans.”
According to an investigator in the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office, Wrenn owned and operator Briggs Behavioral Health Services, Briggs Family and Youth Association, Briggs Therapeutic Intensive Child Development Services, and Exceptional Minds Therapeutic CDS, all of which were behavioral health counseling agencies, from June 10, 2009, through Aug. 27, 2013.
The investigation started after the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received an allegation that the Briggs Family and Youth Association submitted false claims to Medicaid. The probe revealed that in addition to the false claims initially reported, Wrenn continued to submit claims after termination of contracts by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which administers Oklahoma’s Medicaid program.
Wrenn’s husband and an employee also were charged with Medicaid fraud. Charges against the employee were dismissed, and Darrick Edward Wrenn was acquitted by the same jury that convicted Janice Wrenn.
More than 1.2 million Oklahomans – 56% of them children, 44% of them adults – were enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program in February, the OHCA reported.
The case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit agents and was prosecuted by assistant attorneys general.
The MFCU has statewide jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violations of state and federal laws pertaining to provider fraud in the administration of the Medicaid program. The MFCU also investigates and prosecutes cases of abuse, neglect, drug diversion, and financial exploitation involving residents in long-term board and care facilities and in residential care settings in some circumstances.