NEW YORK — A Wyoming County optician will serve 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to a Grand Larceny charge. Thomas Foote, 59, will also spend five years on probation and pay $74,000 in restitution.
The NYS Attorney General's office says Foote fraudulently billed Medicaid for services for deceased nursing home residents. In addition, the state's investigation found that he never actually visited the nursing homes on the dates he submitted claims for.
The charge showed that Foote received approximately $74,000 in fraudulent Medicaid payments between 2016 and 2019. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced Thursday before Wyoming Co. Court Judge Michael Mohun.
“New Yorkers have every expectation that doctors and health professionals are providing services in their best interest, but this optician was totally blinded by greed,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “Not only did he cheat our state to line his own pockets, he shamelessly used the names of deceased nursing home residents to cover his tracks. Let today’s conviction serve as a warning that fraud will never be tolerated in our state, and we will not hesitate to hold those accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
If you have information about Medicaid provider fraud or about an incident of abuse or neglect of a nursing home resident, you can file a confidential complaint online on the OAG website or by calling the MFCU hotline at (800) 771-7755. If the situation is an emergency, you should call 911.
