Metro East Personal Assistant Facing Health Care Fraud Charges

Press Release

EAST SAINT LOUIS, Ill. – Shomanicka Holly, 36, of East Saint Louis, Illinois, was arraigned in 

federal court today after a grand jury returned an indictment charging her with three counts of 

felony health care fraud.


The indictment alleges that Holly served as a personal assistant from 2016 to 2019 for a qualified 

beneficiary enrolled in the Illinois Department of Human Services Home Services Program. The Home 

Services  Program  is  a  Medicaid  program  in  Illinois  that  provides  personal  assistants  to 

 Medicaid recipients to assist them with general household activities and personal care. It is 

designed to reduce Medicaid expenditures by avoiding more expensive institutional care, including 

nursing home care.

According  to  the  indictment,  Holly  submitted  false  timesheets  requesting  payment  for  

personal assistant services that she never actually performed because she was working at another 

job, not caring for  the  Medicaid  recipient.  In  doing  so,  Holly  allegedly  defrauded  the  

program  and  breached  its policies stating that personal assistants “cannot charge [the Home 

Services Program] for the same hours  worked  when  working  another  job”  and  “billing  for  

hours  not  worked  constitutes  Medicaid fraud.”


Holly’s case is set for trial on October 4, 2021, at 9:00am, before United States District Judge 

David W. Dugan in the federal courthouse in East St. Louis. If convicted, Holly faces a maximum penalty 

of 10 years in prison on each fraud count.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be 

innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

This case was investigated by agents of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of 

Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the Illinois State Police, Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau (MFCB).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Luke J. Weissler.

 

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