THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160522
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
A 24-year-old Portsmouth woman has been indicted on charges that she stole more than $12,000 from 15 patients at Sentara nursing homes in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Cheryl A. Marcotte has surrendered to Virginia Beach police and is free on a personal recognizance bond.
The office of the state attorney general in Richmond alleges that Marcotte stole $6,534 from nine residents of a Sentara nursing home in the 200 block of S. Newtown Road in Norfolk and $5,650 from six residents of a Sentara nursing home in the 3600 block of Sentara Way in Virginia Beach.
Authorities allege that Marcotte, who worked as a trust fund clerk at the Norfolk home and as a business office manager at the Virginia Beach home, wrote checks out of both accounts and used the money for personal items.
Attorney General James S. Gilmore issued a news release Wednesday about the Sept. 6 indictment, stating that Virginia's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit helped uncover the alleged thefts.
Robert Metcalf, director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the agency that administers the state's Medicaid program, said his office notified the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in July after a routine audit.
Deborah Myers, director of public affairs for Sentara Health System, said that when the big health-care provider learned of the allegations Marcotte was fired.
KEYWORDS: NURSING HOME THEFT ARREST by CNB