Marietta Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Medicaid Fraud

On Thursday, June 12, 2014, Garry A. Hankerson, Jr. pleaded guilty to Racketeering, Medicaid Fraud, and Conspiracy to Defraud the State in Cobb County Superior Court. Hankerson and his co-defendants obtained over $622,000 through the fraudulent billing of Georgia Medicaid and the Amerigroup Corporation. Hankerson is the co-owner of First Step Counseling Services, Inc. of Marietta, which provided Intensive Family Intervention counseling services as well as Family and Individual counseling services to troubled children in need of intensive therapy for behavioral issues. Children who qualify for these services under Medicaid typically do so because they are in danger of being removed from their homes. Between July 2005 and June 2010, Hankerson and his accomplices would use their patient's Medicaid numbers to bill far in excess of the services provided, sometimes billing when children were no longer in the State of Georgia. Some patients reported being seen only twice, while First Step billed for hundreds of counseling sessions. In sum, over 3,000 false claims were identified over a five year period.

Read more on law.georgia.gov

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