Greensboro owner pleads guilty to $1.7M in Medicaid fraud

(The Center Square) – Medicaid reimbursed a North Carolina business $1.7 million prosecutors say is fraudulent and has led to a guilty plea in federal court.

Gwendolyn Singleton, 55, owner and operator of Joelle’s Center of Hope in Greensboro, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. According to U.S. Attorney Dan Bishop, she executed the scheme through urine drug test claims between June 2021 and March 2023 using the name of a nurse practitioner and a doctor.

Neither provider said they did.

Medicaid provides free or low-cost health coverage to eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities. It is a joint federal and state program, with more than 3 million – 1 in 4 – enrolled from North Carolina’s 11.2 million population.

From fiscal years 2021 to 2025, state appropriations for Medicaid increased 57% from $3.93 billion to $6.17 billion. State Medicaid expenditures rose 97.2% from $18.14 billion to $35.7...