District Woman Indicted for Defrauding the D.C. Medicaid Program

            WASHINGTON — Bridgette White-Chase, 61, of the District of Columbia, was arraigned today on a 20-count indictment with felony fraud and first-degree theft related to claims submitted to the District of Columbia’s Medicaid program.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia. 

            The indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on December 6, 2023. According to court documents, White-Chase operated Chase Counseling and Consulting Services LLC, and was licensed by D.C. Department of Health to provide professional counseling services. Between September 2020 and continuing through January 2023, White-Chase submitted claims to the D.C. Medicaid program for psychiatric services allegedly provided to District Medicaid beneficiaries. The indictment alleges that through these schemes, White-Chase caused the D.C. Medicaid program to pay over $263,000 for services she did not render and overpayment for services she did allegedly provide.

            White-Chase was arrested and arraigned today, and subsequently released pending trial. She is scheduled to appear before the Honorable Erik P. Christian on January 9, 2024.

            In announcing the indictment, U.S. Attorney Graves and Inspector General Lucas acknowledged the work of those who are investigating and prosecuting the case from the Major Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the D.C. Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). They commended the efforts of Special Assistant United States Attorney Emmanuela Charles, on detail from the D.C. OIG MFCU, who is prosecuting the case.

            An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.