MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman is accused of defrauding Wisconsin Medicaid to the tune of $2.2 million and using some of that money to buy Kitt's Frozen Custard, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
Debbie Long, 44, has been charged with theft by fraud, fraud against a financial institution, wire fraud against a financial institution, and two counts of money laundering.
A criminal complaint accuses Long of billing Wisconsin Medicaid for services for her home health care company Pinnacle Home Health Care that never actually happened, including one paid claim for 13,550 hours of care for one person in one day. Long is also alleged to have billed for services that workers said never happened, and billing for travel expenses for non-existent travel.
All told, prosecutors say Long took Wisconsin Medicaid for $2,195,760.87 between March of 2017 and August of 2022. Long is also accused of applying for and receiving a $219,072 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan claiming her company had 120 employees, when it actually had 46.
According to the complaint, Long used roughly $709,000, taken from both the PPP loan and Medicaid reimbursements, to buy Kitt's Frozen Custard at 7000 W. Capitol Dr.
Long and her husband are also accused of funneling additional fraud dollars through three shell companies, which funded purchases of a Mercedes-Benz AMG S63 and an Octopus Car Wash in Milwaukee.
If convicted of all charges, Long faces more than 58 years in prison, and up to $135,000 in fines.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
