Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette Tuesday announced that his Health Care Fraud Division has charged Julianna Trzin, 40, of Hamtramck with multiple felonies including Medicaid Fraud, False Pretenses, Embezzlement from a Vulnerable Adult and Continuing Criminal Enterprise for allegedly improperly billing the Medicaid program and pocketing payments intended for patients.
At the time of her arrest on Medicaid Fraud allegations, Trizin was allegedly in possession of cocaine and an additional charge of Possession of Less than 25 Grams of a Schedule 1 Drug- was filed.
"Medicaid is designed to be there for families when they need it the most. Those who steal from Medicaid are stealing from Michigan's most needy families," said Schuette.
Schuette filed the following charges against Julianna Trzin on Oct. 5 in the City of East Lansing's 54B District Court:
-Six counts of Medicaid Fraud, punishable by up to 4 years in prison, and/or a fine of $50,000.
-Three counts of False Pretenses, punishable by up to 4 years in prison, and/or a fine of $15,000.
-One count of Embezzlement from a Vulnerable Adult a misdemeanor punishable by not more than 93 days and/or a fine of not more than $500.00.
-One count of Continuing Criminal Enterprise, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and/or a fine of not more than $100,000.
The additional possession charge, a felony punishable by up to 4 years in prison or of a fine of not more than $25,000, was added on Tuesday, October 10, 2017.
Trzin was released on bond and will have to present herself in 54B District Court by Oct. 16 for arraignment on the 12 charges.
This matter was referred to the Attorney General's Health Care Fraud Division by the Clawson Police Department. The Clawson Police Department contacted the Health Care Fraud Division after receiving a complaint from Trzin's employer, Cambridge North Healthcare Center, that cash payments made to the facility on behalf of residents were not being entered into the facility's accounts receivable ledger. Subsequent investigation revealed evidence that Trzin who was responsible for accepting payments on behalf of patients allegedly kept the cash payments. It is further alleged that Trzin improperly billed Medicaid over $600,000 from 2011-2016 to cover the losses and prevent earlier detection of the scheme.
Published: Thu, Oct 12, 2017
