Assisted Living Care Administrator Charged with Medicaid Fraud

An assisted living facility administrator in Miami has been charged with defrauding the Florida Medicaid program out of more than $45,000, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.

Eldridge Charles Pratt, 73, was arrested Wednesday by the Miami-Dade police department on a felony warrant issued by Bondis Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Our state is facing a challenging budget year, and we cannot allow taxpayers money to end up in the hands of criminals rather than in the hands of those who provide legitimate Medicaid services, Bondi stated in a release.

Pratt, the administrator of Capricorn Retirement Home Inc., fraudulently billed the Medicaid program for assistive care services rendered to individuals who were not at the facility during the dates for which claims were submitted to the state, according to the released from the attorney generals office.

Between January 2007 and January 2011, the assisted living facility was paid more than $45,000 by the Agency for Health Care Administration for these fraudulent claims, the office stated.

Pratt, charged with Medicaid fraud, grand theft and organized scheme to defraud -- all second-degree felonies faces up to 45 years in prison and more than $150,000 in fines.