CLEVELAND — The News 5 Investigators have been digging into Medicaid fraud, especially since federal leaders came to Ohio this summer, announcing further crackdowns.
Research shows that in 2025, Ohio had the fourth most Medicaid fraud convictions in the country when compared to other states. We went to the heart of the Medicaid program, show local cases where people stole significant money and tell you about laws that shield the criminals.
KNOCKING ON NEO DOORS
We went knocking on doors all over Northeast Ohio, and it’s not easy finding fraudsters after their convictions.
"She supposedly lives here at 1040?” we asked a woman.
“Nope … No Neesha here,” she replied.
Neesha Haynes used to live in Eastlake. Last December, she was convicted of stealing $775,000 from Ohio Medicaid. She got five years' probation and has to pay back the money.
Investigators said she was billing for time she wasn’t spending with patients.
"You’ll go talk to a recipient, and they’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, no one’s been here in months,” said Ben Karrashch, who is the Section Chief of Healthcare Fraud at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. “And then you check the Medicaid data, and it’s two or three people are claiming to have been here.”
The AG’s Office said Tiara Jefferies of Euclid had overlapping clients with Haynes. Jefferies talked to us through a video doorbell on the back of her home.
"That was a very traumatic experience,” said Jefferies. “I did not do anything.”
What she did was plead guilty in February and was sentenced to five years' probation and restitution of $25,000.
"Are you still in touch with Neesha at all?” we asked Jefferies.
"I don’t talk to her … I don’t have nothing to say to that girl,” she replied.
In another fraud case, Desiree Reid from Maple Heights pleaded guilty last October, got five years probation and has to repay nearly $367,000.
A car came up to us while we were outside Reid’s home. A woman claimed she was Reid’s sister and talked to us.
"She just pulled off. She should be on her way back,” said the woman about Reid. “You got a card or something? You guys can set up something.”
We called Reid, but she hung up on us.
NO PICTURES FOR YOU
An interesting note here: some laws protect these big-money felons. We wanted to show you pictures of who these women are and hold them more accountable for their actions, but we’ve been told by several agencies there are no jail or arrest photos. There are pictures of them inside their probation files, but those photos are not public records.
So, many of these high-dollar thieves get probation with no time behind bars, are asked how much they can pay back on the many thousands they stole, walk out of courtrooms back into society, and the very people who steal your taxpayer money — we can’t obtain pictures inside taxpayer-funded files to warn you of who they are.
WHAT'S OHIO DOING/BEEN DOING?
"Fighting Medicaid fraud is a bipartisan issue,” said Scott Partika, who is the Director of the Ohio Department of Medicaid.
He testified in D.C. in front of Congress in June about fraud.
"In Ohio, we are proactively starting to share this information with our partners at other state agencies,” said Partika during the hearing.
Federal leaders came to Columbus announcing additional fraud investigations in Ohio. We asked Partika what his state system is doing to help catch fraud before money gets into the hands of criminals. They invested in technology.
"The department has a revamped our internal data systems to be able to have more upstream, more real-time data in what we’re seeing in terms of claims,” said Partika.
TOUGH PROBLEM WITH IN-HOME HEALTHCARE
News 5 Investigators analyzed data from hundreds of fraud cases. We found in-home care is by far the largest section committing fraud.
Partika said home healthcare saves Medicaid money by not sending people to nursing homes, but he also recognizes the need to find fraud early.
"When you have a provider that has a substantial number of red flags that are popping up, that’s when you know you have a lead for an investigation or potential action, and that’s a new capability,” said Partika.
MORE ACTIONS IN OHIO
He told us Ohio creating a temporary hold on approving new home health and hospice providers and his office digging into fraud analysis have helped.
"Does this make sense? Was the data right? Is there a unique circumstance? We should look at some care plans,” Partika told us.
So, whether it’s the Juan Watsons of the world who is the Cleveland man who happened to have a booking photo and who now has to pay back more than $431,000 to Medicaid — Partika said the next knock on the door could be the next fraud investigation.
"We’re going to catch you today, and if we don’t catch you today, we’re going to catch you tomorrow,” said Partika.
