Webster County woman charged with Medicaid fraud

A Webster County woman is charged with eight class C felony counts of Medicaid fraud after billing for family-therapy services she did not provide. 

Licensed professional counselor Sherri Grove worked as an independent contractor through Head Start, an early childhood program operated by the Ozarks Area Community Action Corp. Grove allegedly billed Medicaid for more than 40 family-therapy visits at Springfield locations that did not occur during a six-month period in 2012. According to a news release from Attorney General Chris Koster's office, the fraud resulted in a $2,000 loss to Missouri’s Medicaid program.

Koster said his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit led the investigation after the case was referred by the Missouri Medicaid Audit and Compliance Unit of the Department of Social Services. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is assisting Webster County Prosecuting Attorney Danette L. Padgett in the prosecution.

Grove is no longer employed by OACAC. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison for each of the eight felony counts, plus payment of penalties and restitution.