A Maryland woman has admitted to conspiring to commit healthcare fraud in connection with a Medicaid-enrolled home health agency operating in Virginia. Carolyn Bryant-Taylor, 61, of Clinton, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and now faces up to 10 years in prison.
Bryant-Taylor was charged earlier this year along with Kafomdi “Josephine” Okocha, Samuel Okocha, Shekita Gore (also known as Shekita Steele), Elizabeth Ilome, and Eno Utuk. The group included owners and operators of 1st Adult N Pediatric Healthcare Service as well as staff responsible for nursing and personal care.
According to court documents, the defendants submitted false claims to Medicaid for services that were not provided. They falsified records and documentation to support fraudulent reimbursement requests. Between 2017 and 2023, Bryant-Taylor and Josephine Okocha arranged payments for parents or guardians of patients in exchange for blank, signed nursing notes. These notes were later used to bill Medicaid for unprovided or inflated nursing services.
The scheme involved multiple instances where Bryant-Taylor paid parents or guardians who then signed off on skilled nursing that had not occurred. Employees at the agency would use these blank notes as part of their billing practices.
“Robert N. Tracci, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Stephen Farina of the FBI’s Richmond Division made the announcement.”
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with assistance from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
“Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Jones and Laura Taylor, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Terry, a Senior Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, are prosecuting the case.”
