Counselor Willie Denice Barr sentenced for Medicaid fraud

An Oklahoma counseling agency owner, director and therapist was sentenced to a 10-year deferred sentence and will pay $14,012 in restitution for Medicaid fraud, Attorney General Scott Pruitt said.

In December, Willie Denice Barr, 47, pled guilty to four counts of Medicaid fraud in Oklahoma County District Court for submitting fraudulent claims for payment to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the state agency that handles Medicaid funds, according to the AG’s office.

Barr, the owner and director of New Restorations Counseling Center in Oklahoma City and Guthrie, also was ordered to complete 500 hours of community service and is responsible for accrued court costs and fees, according to the AG’s office.

In addition to the court-ordered restitution, Barr also must pay $398,097 to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority for repayment of fraudulent claims, according to the AG’s office.

An audit by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority Program Integrity Unit revealed Barr received more than $1.2 million in Medicaid reimbursements from September 2007 to May 2011. Barr’s contract with the state agency was terminated in May.

Barr was charged in May following an investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Source: Mark Schlachtenhaufen, “Judge sentences counselor in fraud case; Defendant owned offices in OKC, Guthrie,” The Edmond Sun, February 15, 2012.