The former owner of Cognitive Care Connection in Emporia was ordered to pay nearly $160,000 in restitution and costs connected to her convictions in March on five counts of making false claims for payment to Medicaid and for obstructing a Medicaid fraud investigation.
District Judge Lee Fowler handed down his decision Wednesday morning after hearing testimony about how the figures were arrived at.
Camilla McKinney, an analyst for the Kansas attorney general’s office who testified during the trial, explained how she had gone compiled a list of errors on Medicaid bills submitted by Vivian Mundy for her work with traumatic brain injury clients. McKinney said she restricted her list of dollar amounts to only the bills connected with the charges for which Mundy was convicted.
Then, McKinney said, she subtracted the amount of money that Mundy already had repaid the state after a settlement was filed in an administrative action against the Emporia woman. Mundy has repaid the state $23,958.04 in the administrative settlement. Of that, McKinney said, $12,393.76 was connected to the cases for which Mundy was convicted.
That left a total of $103,231.88 that prosecutors asked that Mundy be ordered to repay the state in the criminal cases.
In addition, Fowler allowed an itemization of costs of $54,792.25. That accounting covered the time attorneys spent on the case, billed at $50 per hour, and the time investigators spent, billed at $25 per hour, plus mileage.
Mundy’s attorney had argued that the hourly figured used on that bill were more than the actual workers were paid. McKinney, when questioned, said she is paid $22.84 per hour in her job as an analyst for the state. But the bill charged her time at $25 per hour.
Fowler, in issuing his decision, said the figures used by the state were reasonable and actually probably a little low.
“They forgot about KPERS, the state’s paying Social Security tax, health care,” he said.
Besides the restitution order, Mundy is serving a 24-month probation in the case, which includes 60 days in jail, which began May 4.
urgone19 (anonymous) says...
That DOES NOT include the THOUSANDS of dollars she owes people who worked for her company. Those workers are suing her also and are owed at least $3000 a piece. I hope those who worked for her sue the heck out of her.
June 12, 2010 at 9:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wowemporia (anonymous) says...
doesn't this lady have any sympathy for all her clients and workers she has screwed over. i mean come on, but it doesnt say much, look at her family. they are all in debt. STEALING isnt getting you anything
June 17, 2010 at 3:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )