Elizabeth M. Gonzalez, the owner of StepRite, Wethersfield, Connecticut, is being charged with Medicaid fraud and writing fraudulent prescriptions. She faces up to five years in prison for vendor fraud. Her court date is scheduled for February 22.
Gonzalez’s arrest stems from an investigation following a complaint from the Quality Assurance Unit at the State Department of Social Services (DSS). According to the arrest affidavit, a 2010 DSS audit of StepRite found that the company billed Medicaid for $16,554 between October 2007 and June 2009. The billing was for orthotic footwear that was not prescribed by a physician. A further investigation revealed that there had been eight instances where Gonzalez allegedly, fraudulently signed the names of doctors on footwear prescription forms. She admitted to investigators that she wrote the fraudulent prescriptions to prevent disallowance of bogus claims. The value of the billing connected to the fraudulent prescriptions is $1,713.96.
