Local owner of home health care service indicted on fraud charges

Apr. 30—NEWBURYPORT — The local owner of a home health care company and his assistant, who are accused of submitting false Medicare claims for patients who were no longer living at their homes, were recently indicted by a New Hampshire grand jury, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella.

Michael A. Maggiacomo, 50, and Tina M. Allen, 46, both of Newburyport, were each charged with two Class B felony counts of Medicaid fraud, and two Class A felony counts of theft deception. Maggiacomo was also charged with one Class B felony count of presenting false records, for submitting falsified documents in response to an audit.

Maggiacomo is the owner of Alerion Home Care and Wellness Solutions, a home health care company. The charges allege that he and Allen, an Alerion employee, submitted claims for payment to New Hampshire Medicaid for home nursing services that were not actually rendered because the patients were not residing at home.

Court documents allege that between Aug. 1, 2018, and June 30, 2020, Maggiacomo obtained control of over $1,500 in Medicaid funds belonging to the state of New Hampshire.

The charges further allege that when the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services' Program Integrity Unit audited Alerion, Allen and Maggiacomo presented falsified nursing notes to support Alerion's false Medicaid claims, according to Formella's announcement.

From October 2014 to October 2017, Alerion Home Care and Wellness Solutions maintained a location inside The Atkinson Building in downtown Newburyport before moving to Woburn's Trader Center complex, according to building owner Newburyport Development.

A website run by the company no longer functioned when a reporter attempted to visit the page. But according to Maggiacomo's LinkedIn networking page, the company was founded in Newburyport in November 2014.

Maggiacomo will be arraigned in the Merrimack County Superior Court on June 16, and Allen will be arraigned in the same courthouse on July 1.

The maximum penalty for each Medicaid fraud and presenting false records charge is three-and-a-half to seven years in prison. The maximum penalty for each theft by deception charge is seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison.

The charges and allegations are merely accusations, and Allen and Maggiacomo are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

According to a published report, Allen and Maggiacomo were arrested in mid-February on the charges in South Berwick, Maine.

Dave Rogers is a staff writer with The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.