An advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) was arrested today and charged with Medicaid fraud for allegedly billing the state for a bogus medical appointment where he sought to arrange sexual relations with an infant child.
JAY T. MOHLER-AVERY, age 44, of 25 Mountain Street, Hartford, was charged with one count of Second Degree Larceny By Defrauding A Public Community, a class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and one count of Insurance Fraud, a class D felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Mohler-Avery, a state-licensed advanced practice registered nurse/nurse practitioner and owner of the Connecticut Family Care Center in Vernon, was arrested previously by Vernon police and charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Sexual Assault in the First Degree and Risk of Injury to a Child. The case is pending.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, today’s arrest stems from an ongoing investigation that began in October 2012, when one of Mohler-Avery’s patients, who is a Medicaid recipient, complained that he had attempted to arrange for sexual relations with her 18-month-old child.
Subsequent investigation by Inspectors in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office disclosed that Mohler-Avery billed the state’s Medicaid program for an office visit with the patient on October 25, 2012, where he tried to arrange the sexual activity and during which no medical treatment was rendered.
Medicaid is a taxpayer-funded health care program for low-income individuals.
The charges against Mohler-Avery are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mohler-Avery was arraigned today at Hartford Superior Court, G.A. No. 14 in Hartford where bond was set at $50,000 cash or surety and the case was continued until December 19, 2012. Mohler-Avery is currently being held in lieu of bond on the previous charges.
The case will be prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in this investigation from the Vernon Police Department, the Practitioner Licensing Section of the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
