Valerie Ann Sinclair of Fayetteville has pleaded guilty to 21 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses in Moore County Superior Court.
Judge Regina M. Joe ordered Sinclair to surrender her clinical mental health counselor supervisor license and pay $71,046.04 in restitution to the North Carolina Medicaid program. She also sentenced Sinclair to 60 months of supervised probation and required Sinclair to immediately serve 90 days of confinement.
The N.C. Dept. of Justice Medicaid Investigations Division announced the plea today (Wednesday).
From Sept. 11, 2017, through July 7, 2021, Valerie Sinclair repeatedly submitted fraudulent claims to the Sandhills Center, a Local Management Entity/Managed Care Organization (LME/MCO) that managed the care of Medicaid recipients.
Her claims were for behavioral health services to 21 Medicaid recipients, including many children, that she had not actually provided. As a result of these fraudulent claims, the Sandhills Center paid Sinclair $71,046.04, and in some cases, the false claims caused other providers’ legitimate claims to be denied.
In February 2024, the Sandhills Center consolidated with Trillium Health Resources. The Sandhills Center detected and reported Sinclair’s fraud to the state Division of Health Benefits and the NCDOJ Medicaid Investigations Division (MID). The Sandhills Center continued to provide information to the MID throughout the investigation.
This conviction was obtained in collaboration with District Attorney Mike Hardin.
