3 From Hudson Valley Residents Arrested For Defrauding Medicaid

A mother and son from the Hudson Valley and other resident are accused of submitting over $150,000 in false home health care claims to Medicaid.

Tina Gabel, 58, and 23-year-old Sean Gabel, both from Poughkeepsie, allegedly submitted false timesheets to AccentCare, which claimed that Sean Gabel provided consumer directed personal assistant services to two of their relatives in Dutchess County, between October 2011 and February 2015 when Sean Gabel was not in Dutchess County. Sean is Tina’s son, officials say.

As the relatives’ representative, Tina Gabel was responsible for both relatives and was responsible to submit and verify the accuracy of their assistants’ timesheets.

Based upon the false timesheets, Medicaid paid AccentCare over $50,000 for hours that Sean Gabel did not work, authorities allege.

Tina Gabel is also accused of conspiring with another aide to submit false timesheets to Taconic Innovations, Inc. Gabel allegedly claimed the personal aide provided services to one of Gabel’s relatives.

Gabel managed the services for her relative and was responsible for verifying the assistants’ timesheets submitted to Taconic. Based upon the false timesheets, Medicaid allegedly paid Taconic Innovations, Inc. over $50,000 for hours that the personal aide did not work.

Enny Portillo, 58, of Highland Mills is accused of filing timesheets to Priority Home Care Services. She claimed that her daughter provided services to Enny Portillo’s a Medicaid recipient, while the recipient was out of the country in Columbia.

Enny Portillo was the recipient’s representative and oversaw the care. Which meant, she was responsible for the administration of the care, including certifying personal assistant’s timesheets submitted to Priority, officials say. Based upon the alleged submission of false timesheets, Medicaid paid Priority over $50,000 for hours that Enny Portillo’s daughter did not work.

All three were charged with grand larceny, offering a false instrument for filing, and falsifying business records, felonies.

“Medicaid programs are put in place to help those who need them most,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stated. “We will continue to aggressively pursue all individuals who steal from Medicaid to enrich themselves.”

All three were released upon their own recognizance.