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The U.S. Attorney announced an indictment on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering of proceeds derived from fraud,  against a couple of area women and a third defendant from St. Paul.    Shantel Magadanz, 34, of Stacy, Shawn Ashley Grygo, 37, of Forest Lake and 46-year-old Heather Lynn Heim, St. Paul are alleged to have defrauded Medicaid by billing for treatment services illegally.  Their offenses are said to have run from March 2018 to July 2024.

They made court appearances in late December and are released on conditions to have no contact with former clients and employees of Evergreen Recovery and related entities. Evergreen is the out-patient and alcohol treatment center reportedly used fraudulently.

The case is the result of an investigation by the FBI and Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General with assistance from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Attorney General’s Office.  The 13-count indictment announced by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger alleges the defendants caused to be created false electronic health record chart entries, some dated weeks or months after the purported services were provided.  

The conspiracy scheme also allegedly involved “recruiting” patients from homeless shelters, encampments, drug treatment centers and county probation offices looking for places to put people released from jail.  Clients were advised they would be housed in return for participation in a certain number of counseling sessions.  To compel utilization of billable services clients’ were “threatened” with having belongings put on “the curb” and of being locked out.  A court date was not provided yet.

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