U.S. Attorney announces agreement with home care provider

CHARLESTON -- United States Attorney Booth Goodwin has announced the details of a civil settlement among his office, Shida Jamie and her business, Golden Heart In Home Care.

Between October 2006 and April 2010, Jamie and Golden Heart were engaged in a business that provided in-home care services to the elderly and disabled under two West Virginia Medicaid programs.

Jamie pleaded guilty last week to criminal charges involving the falsification of documents to hide various violations of the Medicaid programs.

“The civil and criminal resolutions in this case not only hold Jamie and Golden Heart accountable for their crimes, but also make the victim programs whole and ensure that moving forward, neither Jamie nor Golden Heart will be able to take advantage of any federal health care program or any vulnerable citizen who is to be protected and served under such a program,” Goodwin said.

“I feel strongly that no one should be permitted to benefit from defrauding the United States and that anyone who has benefitted must be divested of the proceeds of the fraud. This resolution satisfies both of these goals.”

In addition to the criminal charges, the United States filed three civil cases against Jamie and Golden Heart to recover losses associated with the fraud against Medicaid, to freeze assets to preserve them for restitution, and to forfeit assets derived from the proceeds of the fraud. The civil settlement resolves all three civil actions by recovering all known assets of Jamie and Golden Heart which represent proceeds of the fraud. The money derived from the settlement will be used to make restitution to Medicaid for the losses it sustained from Jamie and Golden Heart’s fraudulent conduct.