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Local man indicted for Medicaid fraud

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

A Fayetteville businessman with three addresses has been forced to hand over his passport in the wake of allegations that he bilked a medical assistance program for the poor out of roughly $100,000.

Superior Court Judge Paschal English ordered Andrew Winston Felix, owner of the Fayetteville-based Center for Educational Technology, to relinquish his passport until a Medicaid fraud case pending against him has been adjudicated.

On March 8, Felix, who has addresses in East Point, Fayetteville and Brooklyn, N.Y., was indicted during a special presentment to the Fayette County Grand Jury on one count of Medicaid fraud. The indictment set the stage for Felix’s arrest one day later.

The bill of indictment alleged Felix, a mental health services provider for the Medicaid program, fraudulently took $92,767.40 in payments he was not entitled to from July 14, 2003 to Nov. 16, 2004.

“On or about the 14th of July 2003, Andrew Winston Felix enrolled his company, ... CET, located at 115 Commerce Drive, Fayetteville, Fayette County, as a provider of mental health services in the Medicaid Community Mental Health Services program,” according to the indictment. “CET was enrolled in the Medicaid program in the Intensive Family Intervention program.”

The indictment further alleges the 47-year-old Felix recruited about 37 Medicaid recipients from an alternative school, in violation of Medicaid’s policies and procedures.

“Admission criteria established by the Department of Human Resources for the Intensive Family Intervention program require a mental illness or substance abuse diagnosis, and an immediate risk of out-of-home placement for the child,” the indictment states. “Most of the recipients recruited from the school did not meet the admission requirements for the Intensive Family Intervention program.”

The indictment further contends Felix hired employees and independent contractors who were not qualified mental health professionals. He also allegedly falsified recipient files and instructed employees to falsify records to document time, which were not spent with recipients, the indictment states.

“Felix billed the Medicaid program, and obtained a total of approximately $177,673.80 in medical assistance payments, which was an amount greater than that to which he was entitled,” the indictment read. “At a minimum, $92,767.40 of the total amount of medical assistance payments obtained by Felix represented payments for services which were never delivered to the recipients.”

Felix, who is out on a $75,000 bond, is currently awaiting his day in court.

Judge English originally set Felix’s bond at $180,000. The bond was reduced to its current figure at the behest of Felix’s attorney Frederick R.J. Jackson of Decatur.

Attorneys for State Attorney General Thurbert Baker’s office are expected to prosecute the case, according to court documents.