DORAL, Fla. – State prosecutors Wednesday announced the arrests of two therapists who worked for a Doral-based mental health provider, accusing them of scamming Medicaid out of thousands of dollars.
Paola Maria Ewing, a 51-year-old Pembroke Pines resident also known as Paola Granados, and Ingrid Carolina Garcia, a 41-year-old resident of the Tamiami area of west Miami-Dade, were arrested on May 3, according to police reports.
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According to arrest warrants, the pair worked for Life Well Behavioral Center and submitted fraudulent documentation to their employer, which billed the Florida Medicaid Program for services not rendered.
The Florida attorney general’s office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case.
“According to an MFCU investigation, Granados and Garcia deceptively claimed that their clients receiving Medicaid services resided at an assisted living facility, but instead the recipients lived at home or with family members,” a news release from the Florida attorney general’s office states. “During the course of the investigation, Granados and Garcia claimed to be working with clients who, when asked, did not even recognize the two defendants.”
Prosecutors said the pair “knowingly falsified documentation, personal information, progress notes and reports as part of the scam.”
Both women, who are accused of stealing more than $76,000, faced felony Medicaid fraud charges after their arrests.
Also charged in the case were Andrea Lozada Granados and Virna Granados, who were arrested in September 2022.
Mugshots weren’t available for any of the women charged in the case.