Trenton, NJ – New Jersey authorities have charged two women with health care fraud and other crimes for allegedly performing medical procedures without licenses and billing Medicaid for thousands of dollars in false claims.
According to Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, Esney Davis-Sharpe, 63, of East Orange, and Nataliya Lushchak, 48, of Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania, have been indicted on multiple counts, including conspiracy to commit health care claims fraud (second degree), unlicensed practice of medicine (third degree), health care claims fraud (second degree), and Medicaid fraud (third degree).
Investigators allege that Davis-Sharpe, owner of Bessie Mae Women’s Health Center in East Orange, operated the clinic without a medical license and hired Lushchak in 2021 to perform gynecological and family health services, even though Lushchak was not licensed to practice medicine in New Jersey. The pair allegedly used the names of two legitimate physicians — identified in the indictment as “Dr. N.J.” and “Dr. K.R.” — on thousands of Medicaid reimbursement claims submitted without the doctors’ permission or knowledge.
Between December 2020 and February 2024, approximately 2,500 claims were submitted to the New Jersey Medicaid Program from the practice. The state Department of Health issued a cease-and-desist order to Davis-Sharpe in January 2024, ordering the facility to immediately stop operating.
Davenport said the alleged conduct represented “a deliberate abuse of the Medicaid system and a betrayal of patient trust.” Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Al Garcia added that the state’s licensing requirements exist “to ensure that health care providers are properly educated and trained,” and that unlicensed medical activity “presents a risk to patients that we will not allow.”
Key points:
- Esney Davis-Sharpe and Nataliya Lushchak charged with unlicensed practice of medicine and Medicaid fraud
- Roughly 2,500 false claims allegedly submitted using doctors’ names without consent
- State issued cease-and-desist order shutting down Bessie Mae Women’s Health Center in January 2024
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorneys General Sean O’Connor and Lauren Aranguren of the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. If convicted, Davis-Sharpe and Lushchak each face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $150,000 on the second-degree counts.
