FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS — More than two hundred people – including a dozen in Southern Illinois – are accused of billing Medicaid for work they did not do as home health aides.
The U.S. Attorney for Southern Illinois, Steve Wigginton, held a news conference in Fairview Heights following that of Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Washington to announce the spoils of Operation Home Alone IV.
Of the 12 charged in Southern Illinois, two remain at large. The other 10 are:
- Kevin Landis Boyd, 58, East St. Louis
- Shirley A. Hair, 49, East St. Louis
- Kiara S. Hopkins, 24, Belleville
- Lisa Jorden, 50, Cottage Hills
- Shelia Vickery, 40, Alton
- Alfreda E. Perkins, 53, East St. Louis
- Ann Marie Sheppard, 54, O’Fallon
- LaTasha Stevenson, 37, Belleville
- Jessica A. Teets, 27, Mulberry Grove
- Terry L. Waeltermen, 30, Pocahontas
Wigginton says the allegations include aides billing for work while out of the country and while the client was in jail.
“In Illinois, it is a crime that is very easy to commit,” Wigginton says. “The program, as it is designed, has very (few) controls.”