TRENTON, NJ - An East Orange man was indicted, accused of orchestrating a massive Medicaid fraud scheme that netted him more than $3.4 million through tens of thousands of false claims.
63-year-old Vicente Lopez was indicted by a state grand jury on September 3 on charges of health care claims fraud (2nd degree), theft by deception (2nd degree), Medicaid fraud (3rd degree), and multiple counts of tax-related offenses, prosecutors said in a news release Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Lopez filed or directed employees to submit over 34,000 false claims for psychological counseling services through his company, Joyce Lopez & Associates (JLA). The business, once legitimately operated by Lopez’s late sister, Joyce Lopez, was taken over by him following her death in 2021.
“Medicaid is a vital lifeline, providing needed health care coverage to low-income individuals and families,” Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a news release. “Health care is expensive, and resources are finite, so it is especially troubling whenever someone chooses to steal from this important public program. This defendant is charged with defrauding the system of millions of dollars to which he was in no way entitled.”
According to investigators, neither Lopez nor JLA was an authorized Medicaid provider. Instead, Lopez is accused of billing Medicaid using the name and provider number of a licensed psychiatrist, identified in court documents as “TF,” without that doctor’s knowledge or consent....
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