Left to Die Next to a Decomposing Spouse : Missouri Couple Charged With Billing $28K in Fake Care — While Vulnerable Adult Was Found Alone in Trash, Animal Waste, and Utter Neglect
Missouri authorities have charged two St. Louis-area residents in connection with an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme that prosecutors say involved falsified caregiving records and the neglect of a vulnerable adult.
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced that Rebecca Walker and Douglaz Walker are facing multiple felony charges after an investigation by the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The charges include two counts each of making false statements to receive healthcare payments and one count each of stealing by deceit.
Prosecutors allege the pair claimed to provide in-home personal care services to Rebecca Walker’s parent, a Medicaid beneficiary, while submitting time records for services that were not actually performed. The services billed included assistance with daily activities such as dressing, meal preparation, and housekeeping.
“No Missourian, especially our most vulnerable, should be forced to endure filth, neglect, or danger because someone decided to game the system,” said Attorney General Hanaway. “It is absolutely disgusting and heartbreaking to see this kind of fraud happen every day in Missouri. It’s my office’s priority to root these abuses out on behalf of taxpayers.”
According to investigators, the Walkers reported that the victim and the victim’s spouse were living with them, when in fact they remained in a separate residence. Witnesses who later observed the living conditions expressed doubt that any meaningful care had been provided.
The case came to light on Dec. 30, 2023, when St. Louis police conducted a welfare check at the victim’s apartment. Officers found the residence in severely unsanitary conditions, including accumulated trash, spoiled food, and animal waste. The victim was discovered on the floor near the body of their deceased spouse, which authorities said was in an advanced state of decomposition.
Emergency responders transported the victim to a hospital, where they died the following day.
Investigators allege that Rebecca Walker submitted false claims for 119 days of care, while Douglaz Walker submitted claims for 238 days. Authorities said the fraudulent billing resulted in nearly $28,000 in improper Medicaid payments.
The Consumer-Directed Personal Care Program allows Medicaid recipients to hire caregivers of their choosing to provide in-home assistance. If convicted, each defendant could face up to seven years in prison, along with fines and other penalties.
The charges are allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
View a copy of the indictment here
He Said the Vitamins Were Free — Then Billed Your Insurance $6,000: Kentucky Pharmacist Headed to Prison for Multimillion-Dollar Scheme That Preyed on Unsuspecting Customers
A Kentucky pharmacist has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud scheme involving fraudulent prescriptions and inflated billing practices, federal prosecutors said.
Michael Shawn Boaz, 47, of Clinton, was sentenced this week in federal court and ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution. He will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. Boaz previously pleaded guilty in November 2025 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and multiple counts related to fraudulent prescriptions.
According to court documents, Boaz participated in a scheme between 2017 and 2021 while working as a licensed pharmacist at two pharmacies in Kentucky. Prosecutors said he and a co-conspirator submitted false and unauthorized prescription claims to health care benefit programs, resulting in losses exceeding $2.1 million.
United States Attorney Kyle Bumgarner stated, “Fraudsters like Boaz that steal from health care benefit programs negatively impact everyone’s health care costs. Health care fraud is a top priority of our office. We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those that defraud our health care programs. It is my fervent hope that Boaz’s prison sentence serves a strong deterrent to other fraudsters in the Western District of Kentucky to stop their fraud now because we will find you and prosecute you.”
The scheme included adding high-cost vitamin products to customers’ prescription orders without their knowledge. Boaz reportedly told customers the vitamins were free, while billing insurers between $1,000 and $6,000 per bottle. Boaz also billed for prescriptions of the antihistamine carbinoxamine maleate that were not legitimately authorized. According to prosecutors, he purchased the medication for approximately $605 per prescription but billed health care programs between $2,000 and $16,000 for each claim.
A co-conspirator in the case, Christopher Clayton Augustus, 42, of Paducah, previously pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and aggravated identity theft. He is awaiting sentencing.
Illinois Doctor Accused of Rubber-Stamping Brace Orders for 851 Patients She Never Examined — Some Spent Less Than a Minute Reviewing, Feds Say
A federal lawsuit accuses an Illinois doctor of helping drive a durable medical equipment fraud scheme that cost Medicare more than $630,000 by signing braces orders for beneficiaries she never examined, federal prosecutors said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed the False Claims Act complaint against Dr. Alexandria Williams, alleging she signed prepopulated medical orders for orthotic braces between December 2018 and April 2019 without a legitimate doctor-patient relationship. Prosecutors said the orders contained false statements claiming she had evaluated patients, discussed the equipment with them and provided follow-up instructions, when she had done none of those things.
According to the complaint, Williams was licensed in Massachusetts at the time and was working as a resident physician in Cambridge when she took on telemedicine-style work through a staffing company. Federal investigators said she was paid $25 per order after being connected to Integrated Support Plus, a telemedicine company that was part of a broader nationwide braces fraud operation. The complaint says Williams signed orders for 851 Medicare beneficiaries and helped generate 1,462 false claims.
Prosecutors alleged that the beneficiaries often did not want or need the braces, and that Williams generally did not contact them at all. In many cases, investigators said, she spent less than a minute reviewing the paperwork before signing it. The orders were then used by durable medical equipment suppliers to bill Medicare for back, knee, wrist, shoulder and other orthotic braces that officials say were medically unnecessary.
Medicare paid about $632,274 on claims tied to Williams’ signatures. The complaint alleges that she falsely certified that the braces were medically reasonable and necessary, and that the documentation supporting the claims was material to Medicare’s payment decisions.
The lawsuit also says Williams continued signing orders even after the federal government launched a nationwide crackdown on the telemedicine and durable medical equipment fraud scheme in April 2019. Prosecutors said she later tried to conceal her role by downplaying her work, omitting it from a California medical license application and telling investigators she had no memory of the conduct before later acknowledging it in an email.
The complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act. The allegations have not been proven in court, and no liability has been determined.
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