Missouri Woman Gets Federal Prison for Illegal Funds Scheme

(Kansas City, Missouri) Last month, a 60-year-old former public administrator for Jasper County, Missouri, Rita Frances Hunter, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to illegally obtaining federal benefits.

Hunter received 12 months and a day in federal prison without parole.

Hunter admitted that her scheme involved a total fraud of $70,000 to $120,000. Hunter directed her employees to submit materially false Medicaid applications for wards of the state who were under the custody of the Public Administrator=s office. These applications falsely stated that the wards had assets below the $1,000 threshold to be eligible to receive Medicaid benefits, when in fact, the wards had more than $1,000 in assets.

Hunter specifically pleaded guilty to directing her staff to prepare a fraudulent Medicaid eligibility statement for a ward identified only as T.V. Hunter knew the statement, which was submitted to Missouri Health Net on Aug. 6, 2008, contained false information.

Hunter was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution.