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TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Daytona woman was found liable for fraudulently billing Medicaid more than $210,000. A civil lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit determined that Vidya Bhoolai must pay more than $640,000 for numerous violations of Florida's False Claims Act. Bhoolai, the owner and operator of two Volusia County assisted living facilities, repeatedly billed the Medicaid program for services she never provided.

According to an investigation conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in 2005, Bhoolai filed multiple claims for Medicaid recipients who either never resided at her facilities or resided there for fewer days than she reported when seeking Medicaid reimbursements. The civil lawsuit claimed that Bhoolai submitted more than 300 false claims to Medicaid.

Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration assisted with the investigation, providing the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with Bhoolai's billing and claim submission history. Bhoolai's facilities have since been shut down. Bhoolai was also criminally charged in the case and pled no contest to the charges. She was sentenced to 10 years of probation and must reimburse the Medicaid program $60,000. She must also repay the state for the cost of investigation and prosecution.