Baltimore state's attorney indicted on federal charges

By Tyler Clifford and Steve Gorman

Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby (C) departs the courthouse on the first day of the Caesar Goodson trial in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the city's top prosecutor, was indicted on Thursday on federal charges of perjury and filing false mortgage applications related to her purchase of two Florida vacation homes.

Mosby, a Democrat elected to her post in 2015, is accused of falsely claiming twice to have suffered a work-related financial hardship from COVID-19 in order to request early withdrawals totaling $90,000 from her city employee retirement account.

In both instances, the indictment stated, Mosby fraudulently cited a federal CARES Act provision allowing for emergency distributions of up to $100,000 from her retirement plan in the event of a furlough, layoff, quarantine, reduced work hours, lack of childcare or impact on one's own business caused by COVID-19.

Prosecutors said Mosby, 41, used the money she received - $36,000 in May 2020 and $45,000 on Dec. 31 of that year - toward down payments on vacation homes in Kissimmee, Florida, and Long Boat Key, Florida.

The two counts of perjury stem from Mosby's false statements of coronavirus-related financial duress at a time when she was earning a gross annual salary of nearly $248,000 in full, the indictment asserted.

Mosby is further charged with two counts of making false statements on mortgage applications seeking a total of more than $900,000 in loans to purchase the two Florida properties in question.

In particular, the indictment says, Mosby failed to disclose as required in both applications that she and her husband were delinquent in federal tax payments resulting in $45,000 tax lien filed against them by the Internal Revenue Service in 2020.

Mosby, who ran for office as a part of a movement of "progressive prosecutors" promising to address systemic inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system, made national headlines in 2015 when she charged six officers in the police custody death of Freddie Gray, a young Black man.

The death of Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported without a seatbelt in a police van, led to rioting on the day of his funeral. None of the six officers charged in his death was convicted.

There was no immediate comment from Mosby, her office or any legal representative about the indictment.

If convicted, she could face up to five years for each of two perjury counts and decades in prison on charges of making false mortgage applications, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for Maryland.

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Baltimore state's attorney indicted on federal charges

Maryland to stop paying for mandatory coronavirus testing for nursing home staff

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has warned the state is facing a serious financial crisis. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

By Rebecca Tan and Rachel Chason

Maryland’s health department has warned nursing homes that the state will soon stop paying for the weekly coronavirus testing it requires for staff — prompting frustration from some in the industry, who say facilities cannot afford to foot the bill.

State officials say nursing homes should be able to pay for the tests through funding they received from the federal Cares Act. But industry advocates say there is not enough money to cover those costs and other pressing pandemic-related needs, especially for small, independent facilities.

“This is not something that [nursing homes] are set up to be able to continue on their own,” said Allison Ciborowski, chief executive for LeadingAge Maryland, which represents 120 nonprofit operators of long-term care facilities.

She added that it is vital for the state to ensure regular testing at long-term care facilities, where the coronavirus has already killed more than 2,000 staff and residents.

“This will crush us,” says the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, director of Maryland Baptist Aged Home in Baltimore, about figuring out how to pay for testing. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Maryland has required since mid-June that nursing homes test all staff weekly, and offered to pay for facilities that were unable to afford it. Last week, however, the health department informed industry advocates that the state would stop conducting and sponsoring employee testing. The agency said facilities should establish their own testing arrangements with laboratories by Aug. 14.

In response to questions about what would happen to facilities that do not have the funds, Mike Ricci, a spokesman for Gov. Larry Hogan (R), said: “We expect the vast majority of facilities to have plans in place, but there’s a range of options depending on the situation.” He said the state will continue paying for testing for residents at facilities where there are coronavirus outbreaks.

Hogan on Tuesday said the state is facing its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and warned that state agencies may be asked to cut their budgets by 15 to 20 percent.

The federal government in May distributed $4.9 billion to 15,000 Medicare-certified skilled nursing facilities. Facilities with more than six residents were eligible for a baseline amount of $50,000, along with $2,500 per bed. This month, the government added $5 billion in relief funding for nursing homes.

In a Friday letter to three nursing home trade associations, state health officials said they “fully expect that your member facilities will make use of those funds to protect your residents from COVID-19 by continuing weekly mandated testing.”

State health secretary Robert Neall released an order that day outlining the requirements and saying failure to comply is a misdemeanor. Maryland has fined multiple nursing homes for failing to meet requirements related to testing.

Nationally, some lawmakers and watchdog groups have expressed concern with how nursing homes are using the federal funding, calling for more government scrutiny. Ciborowski said her organization’s members are following all relevant guidelines.

Ciborowski said it is not immediately clear whether testing staff is an eligible expense under the Cares Act. The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to questions seeking clarification.

Even if facilities can use federal funding to pay for tests, what they have received is “simply not enough” to cover weekly testing on top of other expenses such as additional protective equipment and hazard pay for employees, said Joseph DeMattos Jr., chief executive of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland.

Philip Meyer, who owns the 50-bed Althea Woodland facility in Montgomery County, said it is “ridiculous” for the state to make facilities use their federal funding to pay for weekly testing of staff.

The $175,000 in Cares Act money that Althea Woodland received in May has gone toward paying employees and operating costs while revenue declined, and buying protective equipment, he said. The state’s decision to stop sponsoring employee testing, he added, “will wreak havoc on an already over-burned industry.”

At Maryland Baptist Aged Home, a 29-bed nonprofit facility in Baltimore that has had zero coronavirus cases, leaders are scrambling to figure out how to pay for their own testing. “This will crush us,” said Rev. Derrick DeWitt, who serves as the facility’s director.

DeMattos said shifting responsibility for testing to individuals nursing homes also means tests will likely be sent to commercial labs, which are experiencing nationwide backlogs. The state lab has generally turned around results more quickly, he said.

Nursing homes in Virginia and the District will also soon need to begin paying for regular testing, industry advocates said, although there have not been orders stating when funding will be cut.

In Virginia, the state organized and paid for a round of testing and is now shifting responsibility to the facilities, said Amy Hewett, spokeswoman for the Virginia Health Care Association. State guidance says all staff and residents should be tested weekly in the first phase of reopening, until there are no new cases among residents for 14 days. But it is a recommendation, not a mandate.

In the District, the city had been paying for required weekly testing. On Monday, however, one nursing home said it was asked to begin organizing and paying for its own testing, said Veronica Sharpe, president of the D.C. Health Care Association. She said she will ask the city for more funding if it expects nursing homes to pay for their own testing.

Correction: A previous version of this story said Maryland is set to stop paying for coronavirus testing of nursing home staff and residents. It only plans to stop paying for the mandatory weekly testing of staff.

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Maryland to stop paying for mandatory coronavirus testing  for nursing home staff

Nursing Homes Struggle As Staff Choose Unemployment Checks Over Paychecks

by Gabrielle Emanuel

Some nursing homes and long-term-care facilities say they're struggling to fill shifts as certified nursing assistants opt for unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

SolStock/Getty Images

Shanna LaFountain has been a nursing assistant in New England for 20 years. About two months ago, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, she stopped working.

"It was an extremely hard decision," she said.

LaFountain has three children and made the decision once their schools closed and their learning went online.

"My son was not answering teachers, not doing assignments," she said. "I had to be home with my children."

Instead of working, she gets state unemployment benefits and receives another $600 each week from the federal government. She is making more money now than when she works.

LaFountain is not alone. As part of the CARES Act, the federal government added an extra $600 per week to individuals' unemployment checks. Such benefits may be available not only to those who were let go but also to those who quit their jobs due to the virus.

While a Federal Reserve report said the expanded benefits provide a critical lifeline to many individuals, there is concern that the additional money is leading crucial workers to stay home. Nursing homes and long-term-care facilities, hard hit by the pandemic, have been struggling with understaffing.

The nurse staffing agency LaFountain used to work for, called IntelyCare, reports that about 30% of its certified nursing assistants, or CNAs, are choosing to take unemployment during the pandemic.

"Without them, you've got administrators, cafeteria workers, you've got all sorts of nurses performing the CNA duties. And then you just have people that aren't getting attention because there's just not enough people working," said David Coppins, CEO of IntelyCare, which operates in 14 states and helps long- term-care facilities fill their empty shifts.

In a typical nursing home, about two-thirds of the workforce are CNAs, Coppins said. They often have the closest relationships with the patients and spot early signs of health problems.

Before the pandemic, IntelyCare found workers for about 80% of the shifts that long-term-care facilities asked help in filling. Now, Coppins said, it's lucky to fill 50%.

"I've been talking with administrators day and night and they're all crying about this," said Micha Shalev, who co-owns Dodge Park and Oasis at Dodge Park, two facilities in Worcester, Mass., that specialize in dementia care.

So far, none of Shalev's residents have tested positive for the virus. His facilities and others have been taking extra precautions, he said, but are doing so with far less staff than they need — in large part because of the unemployment checks.

"I'm not against paying people for their unemployment," he said. "But in order to do justice, they should be paying all the front-line workers in health care at least the same, if not even more."

Shalev has resorted to offering his staff bonuses during the pandemic, but said that's not realistic for all facilities. He said the government should supplement the wages of nurses and CNAs.

Congress is debating whether to extend the extra $600 a week unemployment benefit beyond the end of July.

"Without that 600, I would have to go back," said LaFountain. While she misses her patients, she added, the pay rates don't match the risks.

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Nursing Homes Struggle As Staff Choose Unemployment Checks Over Paychecks

GA CPD warns of COVID-19 scams directed at the elderly

Release:

CONSUMER ALERT: Attorney General Carr Issues Warning Against Financial Exploitation of Older Adults during Covid-19

May 29, 2020

ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr is warning older Georgians, their families and their caretakers to be on the lookout for signs of financial exploitation, especially with regard to the recent issuance of federal stimulus checks.  

“Georgia has a robust Elder Abuse Law that covers financial exploitation,” says Attorney General Carr. “The law also contains unique protections for individuals residing in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. We are on the lookout for individuals and organizations that are taking advantage of older adults with regard to their stimulus checks. Our Consumer Protection Division, Prosecution Division and Medicaid Fraud Division will work together with other law enforcement partners to see that bad actors are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Exploitation of Older Adults is generally defined as taking away property or money or otherwise misusing the financial resources of an older adult or disabled person for another’s gain. This can include taking a Social Security or Economic Stimulus check without consent or having a Power of Attorney document or other documents signed without the victim knowing what he/she is signing, or forging his/her signature.

If citizens suspect abuse, neglect, and exploitation of this population, the resources below can assist in reporting the matter:

• To report abuse, neglect, and exploitation of an older adult or disabled adult who lives in a private residence, contact your local police and Adult Protective Services at 1-866-552-4464 – Press “3” or www.aging.ga.gov then click the Report Elder Abuse tab.
• To report abuse, neglect, and exploitation of an older adult, disabled adult or resident in a facility, contact Healthcare Facility Regulation: 1-800-878-6442.
• To access information on long-term supports and services, services in the home and community, or support for individuals and family members who are aging or living with a disability, contact Georgia’s Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) to locate an office in your area: www.georgiaadrc.com.

Medicaid recipients who reside in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, along with their family members, should make sure that the economic stimulus payments of these residents are not utilized by the facility or individuals working in the facility. Although Medicaid recipients may sometimes be required to sign over certain resources to the facility where they reside, this does not apply to the economic stimulus payments. Congress, under the CARES Act, has designated these payments as “tax credits,” which means the monies lawfully belong to the recipients and cannot be taken by a nursing home or assisted living facility.

If you believe that the stimulus payment of a Medicaid recipient who resides in a nursing home or assisted living facility was improperly taken by the facility, you can contact the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division by calling (404) 656-5400 or by emailing report_medicaid_fraud@law.ga.gov.

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GA CPD warns of COVID-19 scams directed at the elderly