Licensed counselor and wife charged with $600,000 Medicaid fraud

April 29, 2013

On April 17, 2013, the Gwinnett County Grand Jury indicted co-defendants Derrell Jackson and Shayla Darrington Jackson for violation of the Georgia R.I.C.O. (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act, Medicaid Fraud and Theft by Taking.

Derrell Jackson and Shayla D. Jackson, husband and wife, obtained over $600,000.00 of Medicaid funds by submitting false billing to the Georgia Medicaid program over the course of three years.  Their company, Project Focus, LLC, was enrolled in the Medicaid program known as Intensive Family Intervention, which provides in-home mental health counseling to youths diagnosed with severe behavioral disorders. Derrell Jackson is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Georgia.

The investigation revealed that during audits dated January 26, 2009, and May 21, 2009, the Jacksons had presented false progress notes in patient files being reviewed by auditors. Additionally, many of the progress notes were forged using the name of a non-existent employee. In the final analysis, services simply had not been provided as claimed by the Jacksons.

The fraudulent scheme was discovered when the Jacksons failed to appear for scheduled audits, first in February 23, 2010, and then March 23, 2010.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Henry A. Hibbert. Investigator Johnny Brooks, Nurse Investigator Judith Cooper, Intelligence Analyst Zwella Boyd, and Assistant Attorney General Henry A. Hibbert investigated the case with the assistance of the Georgia Department of Community Health’s Office of Inspector General.

Source: "Youth Counselors Charged with Defrauding Georgia Medicaid of More than $600K," press release of the Office of the Georgia Attorney General, April 19, 2013.