Ten Medicaid providers — including a Columbus woman — are accused of stealing a combined $1.9 million from the government health-care program for the needy, according to indictments filed this week by the Ohio attorney general’s office.

Nine home-health aides and one provider of home-delivered meals face varying felony charges of Medicaid fraud and theft for allegedly billing Medicaid for services they did not provide. Two of the defendants alone accounted for more than $1.7 million of the alleged fraud, according to a news release.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, an arm of Attorney General Dave Yost’s office, investigated the cases and secured the indictments in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

“Would-be thieves ought to think twice before setting their sights on Medicaid dollars,” Yost said. “Our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is always on the lookout for sticky-fingered criminals to bring to justice.”

Among those indicted, Gabrielle Trudell Carn, 36, of Columbus, was removed from a client’s plan of care in February 2024 but allegedly continued to bill for 10 hours of services almost daily for six more months, causing a $33,368 loss for Medicaid.

The two most egregious offenders were Terri Cotton and Juan Watson, both of Cleveland. An unusually high number of claims for home-delivered meals drew investigators’ attention to Cotton, 54. Records spanning more than two years show that she regularly billed Medicaid for up to 100 home-delivered meals a day for each of her four clients. The loss to Medicaid totaled $1.2 million.

Records show Watson, 36, often billed for 16 hours of services per day, but clients reported receiving services that lasted only a few hours. Additionally, Watson allegedly billed for services when he was traveling out of state. The loss to Medicaid totaled $431,579.

Others indicted and the alleged losses to Medicaid included Shylynn Flint, 24, of Blanchester, $5,217; Toya Hale, 52, of Canton, $10,204; Creshawnda Hughes, 33, of Akron, $25,900; Regina Johnson, 34, of Avon, $20,140; Yolanda Knox, 50, of Dayton, $56,666; Sirina Powell, 50, of Canton, $5,758; and Cheyenne Williams, 61, of Cleveland, $19,726.

Ohio’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which operates within the Health Care Fraud Section, collaborates with federal, state and local partners to root out Medicaid fraud. The unit investigates and prosecutes health-care providers who defraud the state Medicaid program and enforces the state’s Patient Abuse and Neglect Law.