Baltimore, MD – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced Monday, Aug. 28 that Anita Nelson, 42, of Great Mills, pleaded guilty to the charge that she stole personal funds from residents of a facility that provides services for developmentally disabled adults.
Saint Mary’s County Circuit Court Judge Karen H. Abrahms sentenced Nelson to two years’ incarceration, all suspended, and 80 hours community service. Judge Abrahms also placed Nelson on two years’ probation and ordered that she not work as or with any provider in a federally funded health care program for five years. Nelson was employed as an operations manager at Bay-CSS, a residential and day program facility that provides services for developmentally disabled adults. In addition to providing housing and related services, Bay-CSS manages personal funds for some of their residents. Nelson was responsible for providing oversight of operations at several of Bay-CSS’s residential homes.
During an audit, Bay-CSS discovered that Nelson had not followed the proper procedures for requesting and approving the withdrawal of personal funds from at least six residents’ accounts for certain withdrawals made between March 16, 2015 and August 26, 2015. Further investigation revealed that $2,628.58 in client funds requested by Nelson was not received by the intended recipient and instead was stolen by Nelson.
In making Monday’s announcement, Attorney General Frosh thanked the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Assistant Attorneys General Myshala E. Middleton and Lisa Cameron, and Investigator Prashani Mankhusu for their work on this matter.