Three charged with Medicaid fraud in East Lansing

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Three Michigan residents have been charged with Medicaid fraud following an app-based transportation scheme.

Attorney General Dana Nessel reports that Bernice Marie Pate, 51, of Inkster, Wanda Rose Spivey, 55, of Taylor, and Ashley Eliza Mendoza, 34, of Detroit, have been arraigned in the 54B District Court in East Lansing for allegedly exploiting a Medicaid transportation program.

The Michigan Medicaid program provides mileage reimbursement when users travel to eligible medical appointments. In some cases, a smartphone app is made available to track mileage to these appointments using the built-in GPS.

The defendants allegedly used an app to trick a phone into thinking it was somewhere it was not and submitted reimbursement requests for trips that never happened