Woman pleads guilty in $860K Medicaid fraud scheme

The alleged ringleader of a scheme that defrauded Minnesota’s Medicaid program out of over $860,000 has pleaded guilty.

Trenea Deshawn Davis pleaded guilty to five counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle, according to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. As part of her plea, she also admitted to operating the fraud ring.

Six of Davis’ seven co-conspirators have also pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors say Davis and the seven others, most of whom are her family members, ran a five-year scheme where they recruited friends and family members to exaggerate medical conditions to qualify them for personal care assistant services. Davis then enlisted others to report services that were never provided.

Ellison’s office says Davis, herself, reported working as a PCA for over 7,000 hours from December 2014 to May 2018 before becoming a patient that needed 12 hours of care per day.

In her plea, Davis also admitted that she and her co-conspirators didn’t receive or provide any legitimate services and said they split the fraudulently obtained wages.

Davis is set to be sentenced on Feb. 15.

"Minnesotans who receive Medical Assistance have a right to expect that they’ll receive all the care, dignity, and respect they’re entitled to. Minnesotans trying to afford their lives have a right to expect that every one of their tax dollars will be put to use properly," Ellison said in a statement. "People who commit Medicaid fraud violate both of those rights. I’m proud of my office for aggressively prosecuting this case and securing this guilty plea. Anyone who defrauds Minnesotans needs to know we will hold them accountable, too."