Medicare fraud: Sarah Ward pleads guilty to defrauding Medicare of $180,000
A detail in a case against a mother who stole more than $180,000 from Medicare while working as a receptionist has bemused a judge.
A Melbourne judge has questioned a lawyer over the psychological treatment a mother of two, who defrauded Medicare of more than $180,000, intends on receiving.
Defence barrister Michael Allen, who represented Sarah Ward in the Victorian County Court on Wednesday, said his client was planning to undergo acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy to treat a personality disorder.
Ward has pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining property by deception after she funnelled more than $180,000 from Medicare through false claims made when she worked as a receptionist for a gastroenterologist.
The offending occurred between March 2019 and April 2020, during which time Ward made 1609 false patient claims regarding consults that never occurred at the Melbourne Digestive Centre in the southeastern suburb of Noble Park.
According to a prosecution summary released by the courts, Ward’s claims amounted to more than $3000 per week, while the total of the proceeds were split approximately in half between Ward and a bank account in the name of her husband, with whom she has two children.
She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years prison and/or a fine of $126,000.
“Acceptance and commitment therapy – what’s that?” Judge Geoffrey Chettle asked.
“What do they mean?”
According to Health Direct, dialectical behaviour therapy is designed for people with a borderline personality disorder who have difficulties controlling their emotions.
An article on the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners website describes act and control therapy as “helping patients to behave more consistently with their own values and apply mindfulness and acceptance skills to their responses to uncontrollable experiences”.
But prosecutor Adam Murphy cast doubt on the submission that Ward was suffering a personality disorder and said the evidence was “inconsistent.”
Mr Murphy said one of multiple doctor’s reports submitted to the court found “none” of Ward’s traits were indicative of a personality disorder.
According to an outline of defence submissions also released by the court, the offending occurred when Ward was suffering from a personality disorder and stress.
The defence submissions also said Ward had “indicated her intention to plead guilty at the earliest reasonable stage”.
Ward has one previous conviction dating to 2015 when she stole more than $29,000 from Cabrini Health in Hawthorn by lodging false patient refund forms.
She will be sentenced on Friday, with her bail extended to that date.
Ward has repaid all the money owed to Medicare.