HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that the owner of a Berks County-based home care agency was sentenced to terms of prison, parole, and probation — and ordered to pay $235,778 in restitution — for collecting Medicaid reimbursement related to fraudulent claims submitted by his company.
An Office of Attorney General investigation, which included a presentment from the 47th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, revealed that A Part of Our Family Home Care Agency was reimbursed under Medicaid for services that were not provided and for claims containing false representations.
Gavin Mata, owner of the company, previously pleaded guilty to felony Medicaid Fraud and perjury, as well as a separate count of Medicaid Fraud on behalf of the company.
Mata, 36, of New York, was sentenced this week to one month in prison, to be followed by 22 months of parole, and five years of probation.
“The defendant went to great lengths to perpetrate this fraud scheme, falsifying records and reporting bogus hours for employees without their knowledge,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Medicaid Fraud takes money and resources away from Pennsylvanians in need of care.”
As part of sentencing, Mata and his business will be banned as providers in the Medicaid program for at least five years. A federal healthcare exclusion is also expected.
The investigation revealed that, between 2020 and 2022, Mata and his company submitted hours to Medicaid regarding services that contained false information and/or were never performed. Some of the claims involved patients that never signed up for, or received care from A Part of Our Family as a provider, while others regarded employees who were not aware Mata had submitted false claims for hours they allegedly worked.
Additionally, during the Grand Jury investigation, Mata testified untruthfully about payroll records.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Eric Stryd of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section.
The Pennsylvania Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $12,839,940 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $4,279,979 for FY 2025, is funded by Pennsylvania.
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