Former health care provider sentenced to 93 months

WORTHINGTON — A Bigelow resident who once ran the Caring and Compassionate Healthcare Agency in Worthington was sentenced Thursday on seven counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation.

Remona Brown, 65, was charged in 2017 after one of her employees reported several instances of Medicaid fraud and initiated a civil lawsuit. Seeing the civil accusations, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office took notice and filed a criminal case.

Related: Whistleblower speaks out on local Medicaid fraud case Six years after she initiated an investigation, the criminal case is closing next week.
All in all, an investigation discovered, Brown fraudulently claimed $1,860,155.57 more than her employer was actually owed from the state government.

A jury considered Brown's case at a May trial and found her guilty of 14 counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation. However, she could only be sentenced for seven of the counts, because there were only seven documented occurrences of fraud. For example, Count 1 specifies that the theft was in an amount over $35,000, and Count 2 specifies that it was theft of public funds, but the counts correspond to a single claim made on a given date. The same is true for each pair of charges.

Related: Michigan woman facing 14 felony-level charges WORTHINGTON -- The state of Minnesota is seeking the maximum sentence for a Michigan woman accused of aiding in the unlawful reception of approximately $1.8 million in Medicaid funds while operating a health care agency in Worthington.
Her sentences, ordered by Fifth Judicial District Judge Sherry Haley, are as follows: for Count One, 93 months; Count 3, 57 months; Count 5, 57 months; Count 7, 45 months; Count 9, 39 months; Count 11, 27 months; and Count 13, 21 months. The sentences will be served concurrently, for a total of 93 months, with credit for 45 days previously served.

In addition to serving her time, Brown was also ordered to pay back the entire $1,860,155.57 in restitution to the state.

Brown is also facing criminal charges in Michigan, which allege that she wrote illegitimate opioid prescriptions.

Related: Woman accused of Worthington home health care scheme faces charges in Michigan Remona L. Brown is accused of writing illegitimate prescriptions for opioids.
The civil case against her is also pending.