RALEIGH -- Attorney General Josh Stein announced that Catinia Farrington and Haydn Thomas of Durham were charged in federal district court with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and tax evasion.

Thomas has also been charged with an additional charge of money laundering. The indictment alleges that Farrington and Thomas illegally used Medicaid numbers obtained from another provider to bill false claims to Medicaid.

“These individuals stole private patient information to cheat the Medicaid program and taxpayers out of millions of dollars,” said Attorney General Stein. “My office will continue to fight against these fraudulent and wasteful practices.”

Farrington, who owned Durham County Mental Health and Behavioral Health Services, and Thomas allegedly obtained the Medicaid numbers for thousands of dental patients, and then submitted $4 million worth of false claims to Medicaid for mental health services that were not provided to those patients.

The indictment was obtained earlier this month by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina. The investigation was conducted by the North Carolina Department of Justice, Medicaid Investigations Division, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General.

Today’s announcement is made in conjunction with the National Health Care Fraud Takedown announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which resulted in charges against 601 individuals responsible for more than $2 billion in fraudulent charges across the country.

The Takedown announcement represents joint state and federal efforts to target Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and private insurance billing schemes for unnecessary prescription drugs and compound medications, as well as individuals who are contributing to the opioid epidemic.