Tennessee officials have arrested women from Rutherford County and Somerville and charged them with TennCare fraud.
Officials with Tennessee’s Office of Inspector General and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office this week announced the arrest of Tonya S. Bowman, 40, of Murfreesboro. According to a press release, Bowman falsely reported her income to receive TennCare benefits.
“Authorities say Bowman under reported her income to the state, resulting in TennCare payments of $4,159.75 on her behalf to healthcare providers,” according to the press release.
“If her actual income had been reported, she would not have qualified for the state program.”
If convicted, Bowman could face penalties of up to a maximum of 24 years in prison for both Class D felonies. The case is being prosecuted by District Attorney Jennings H. Jones of Rutherford County.
OIG officials, working with the Madison County Sherriff’s Office also announced the arrest of Britney Tatum, 29, who is charged with two counts of TennCare fraud, a class D felony. Authorities accuse Tatum of knowingly using the identity of a TennCare recipient in order to receive health care benefits on a dozen separate occasions, totaling expenditures by TennCare of approximately $7,500, according to a press release.
If convicted, Tatum could face penalties of up to a maximum of 24 years in prison for the two counts of TennCare fraud. The case is being prosecuted by District Attorney Jody Pickens of Madison County.
As The Tennessee Star reported last week, law enforcement officials charged Tamaria Whitley, 21, of Brownsville with TennCare fraud and identity theft for allegedly allowing another person to use her TennCare card to receive dental benefits.
Both offenses are class D felonies. TennCare provides for dental services for children under 21 years of age and authorities say the alleged crimes happened before Whitley was 21.
Authorities also charged Virginia Watson, 59, of Davidson County with allegedly reporting a false Tennessee residence in order to receive TennCare healthcare insurance benefits. Authorities specifically charged Watson with TennCare fraud and theft of services under $10,000 — both of which are class D felonies, according to a press release.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
