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TALLAHASSEE – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Miami-Dade County woman was arrested for defrauding the Florida Medicaid program out of more than $119,000. Tracy L. Deskins was arrested this morning by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit after investigators discovered that she was using her speech therapy business to fraudulently bill Medicaid.

An investigation that began last June revealed that Deskins’ company, Speech Therapy Services, Inc., regularly submitted claims to the Medicaid program for providing eligible children with speech therapy. However, Deskins, 42, allegedly often billed for therapy services never provided, or overbilled for multiple sessions per week when only one or two sessions took place. The speech therapy business is located in Florida City.

“Medicaid was created to ensure that our citizens receive much needed medical care,” McCollum said. “It should never be used to line the pockets of thieves.”

Based on an analysis of bank records and review of billing claims from January 2004 through May 2006, investigators believe that Deskins, of Palmetto Bay, was paid more than $119,000 in fraudulent Medicaid claims. McCollum’s fraud unit began its investigation after receiving information from the Agency for Health Care Administration.

Deskins is being held at the Miami-Dade County jail. She is charged with one count of grand theft and one count of organized fraud, both first-degree felonies. If convicted, she faces up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $10,000. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

A copy of the arrest affidavit for Deskins is available at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-6XAJ8F/$file/DeskinsAffidavit.pdf