SC man spent years stealing from Medicaid, now will go to federal prison
Jonathan Wade Sumter was sentenced to seven years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty last month to a years-long scheme to defraud Medicaid.
Sumter, 51, has also been ordered to repay the $1,055,373.66 that he stole from the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid program.
“This sentence warns bad actors in the behavioral healthcare field that South Carolina has citizens in need of these services; any fraudulent conduct that abuses these programs or prevents our citizens from receiving needed services will not be tolerated,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said.
In 2015, Sumter, a resident of Greer, founded the company PHC Supportive Services to supposedly provide rehabilitative behavioral health services to disabled, low-income individuals in South Carolina through Medicaid.
In reality, PHC “never had any actual clients or service providers,” according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina.
“Instead, Sumter repeatedly billed Medicaid by using the stolen National Provider Identifier numbers of nine health care professionals to create fraudulent invoices to Medicaid. Sumter then used the stolen identities of 196 Medicaid members with severe mental and emotional health disorders without their knowledge or consent,” the statement read.
In October, 2020, Sumter was arrested and charged with eight counts of stealing identities, scheme to defraud and theft, according to court records. The ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of the indictment.
Caregivers and clients contacted by investigators stated that they had never received any services from Sumter or PHC, according to prosecutors. The service providers Sumter used on his invoices also told investigators that they had not provided medical services for PHC and did not work for the company.
“Using stolen identifies of the most defenseless people to steal money from the hard-working people of South Carolina is unacceptable,” said U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute offenders who steal from programs designed to provide sorely needed care for our most vulnerable citizens.”
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney T. DeWayne Pearson.
Sumter was sentenced by by South Carolina District Court Judge Donald Coggins, Jr.