Three-year conspiracy bilked the government of roughly $99,000 in health care payments, insurance benefits, housing and food stamps

Attorney General John Kroger today announced that four Clackamas County residents have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges for their involvement in an extensive scheme to defraud state-funded social services programs.

Janice Marie Magner (DOB: 6/21/55) pleaded guilty today in Clackamas County Circuit Court to 4 counts of Theft by Deception in the First Degree and 1 count of Unlawfully Obtaining a Food Stamp Benefit. She was ordered to pay $18,227 in restitution and sentenced to 5 years supervised probation.

Three other defendants pleaded guilty in March for their role in the fraud.

• Jennifer Janalynn Alexander (DOB: 12/23/81) pleaded guilty on March 4 to two counts of Theft in the First Degree, three counts of Identity Theft and one count of Unlawfully Obtaining Food Stamps.
• Randy Wiley Smith (DOB: 9/14/76) pleaded guilty on March 10 to one count of Making a False Claim for Health Care Payments, five counts of Theft in the First Degree and one count of Tax Evasion.
• James Mickey Magner (DOB: 5/20/44) pleaded guilty on March 21 to four counts of Theft in the First Degree.

Smith and Alexander will each serve 13 months in prison. Together the four defendants must repay $99,000 to the State of Oregon.

A Department of Justice investigation found that the four conspired for three years to obtain subsidized housing and payments through the state Medicaid program.

Randy Smith became a Medicaid-funded Home Care Worker for his mother, Janice Magner, in order to collect paychecks for care that he did not provide for more than two years. Janice Magner, based on the assertion that Smith was her caregiver, obtained a two-bedroom apartment through the Clackamas County Housing Authority – even though she lived with her ex-husband, James Magner.

At James Magner’s direction, Janice Magner continued reporting to the Department of Human Services that her son was her caregiver so that Smith could continue to be compensated as a Home Care Worker.

Jennifer Alexander had her own subsidized apartment, where Smith lived with her. Alexander failed to report the fact that he was living there to the Housing Authority. Smith billed the state and collected paychecks for care he did not provide for more than two years. Alexander forged Janice’s signature on the payment vouchers.

In addition to the paychecks, Smith received insurance benefits based on false claims that he was working more than 80 hours a month as a Home Care Worker. Alexander and Janice Magner also unlawfully obtained food stamps. Between health care payments, insurance benefits, housing fraud, tax evasion and food stamps, these four defrauded the government of roughly $100,000.

SeniorAssistant Attorney General Elizabeth Ballard and investigator Cynthia Woldfridge handled the case for the Oregon Department of Justice Medicaid Fraud Unit.

The Oregon Department of Justice is recognized as a national leader in the fight against health care fraud. In addition to prosecuting criminal health care fraud, the Department of Justice has filed lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for conducing fraudulent marketing campaigns. In the past year alone, the Department of Justice Medicaid and Financial Fraud units recovered $33.5 million for Oregon from companies like AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline and Omnicare for defrauding Oregon consumers and the state Medicaid program.

Attorney General John Kroger leads the Oregon Department of Justice. The Department’s mission to fight crime and fraud, protect the environment, improve child welfare, promote a positive business climate, and defend the rights of all Oregonians.

Contact:

Tony Green, (503) 378-6002 tony.green@doj.state.or.us |