CONWAY - The Arkansas State Police has agreed to investigate allegations of wrongdoing, including Medicaid and credit-card fraud, at My House, a now-shuttered nonprofit home in Mayflower for men with special needs, Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said.
Hiland said he thinks more than 10 men were living in the home before it closed May 31 after operating for decades. The men have since been moved to another facility, he said.
In a letter Thursday, Hiland asked the state police to help with investigations by the Arkansas attorney general’s office and the Faulkner County sheriff ’s office. He said he was told Friday that an agent had been assigned to the case.
Hiland wrote that he and Sheriff Andy Shock had met with representatives of the state’s Medicaid-fraud unit after being contacted by a former employee of MyHouse “regarding allegations of significant Medicaid fraud related to services provided to individuals with special needs.”
Then, representatives of Arkansas’ adult protective services contacted him and Shock about “additional problems related to alleged credit card fraud perpetrated on at least one client served by the organization, evidence of highly questionable financial processes involving cash transactions and potential obstruction of justice by a former Faulkner County Sheriff deputy.”
Hiland wasn’t certain how much money was purportedly involved in the Medicaid fraud accusations but said the other allegations involve “several thousand dollars.”
According to the prosecutor, Kathy Hall was executive director of My House until it closed. Her husband, David Hall, was a lieutenant in the sheriff’s criminal investigative division until he was fired last week, Hiland said.
Hiland declined to say whether David Hall is the former deputy referred to in the letter. Neither Kathy nor David Hall has been charged with a crime.
Shock did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday, and Hiland declined to comment on the reasons for David Hall’s firing.
Hiland said he and Shock “believe it was appropriate to bring [the state police] in, given the fact that a former employee of the Faulkner County sheriff’s office … was involved, as well as the very serious and troubling natureof the allegations.”
Conway attorney Fran Scroggins, who said she has represented the Halls for years, said Friday that the reasons given for David Hall’s dismissal were “conjured up” and do not relate to the focus of the My House investigations.
“I think the allegations against both David and Kathy are going to be found out to be untrue when everything comes out,” Scroggins said.
Scroggins also said, “I don’t think there’s been any Medicaid fraud at all.”
While a mistake might have happened, she said, she wasn’t saying one had happened.
“I’m saying people arehuman, and she [Kathy Hall] was there 30 years. I think the evidence is going to bear out that those people were well-cared for, that they were taken care of,” Scroggins said.
The attorney said she did not know anything about the investigation of matters other than the Medicaid fraud allegations.
“When everything comes out … it’s going to show that David Hall’s termination was inappropriate and that there’s some things going on at the sheriff ’s office that should not be,” Scroggins said.
She said My House closed because Kathy Hall no longer was physically able to do the work there.
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 06/30/2013