(MONTGOMERY)—Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Wednesday the arrest of the former owner of a Fort Payne-based speech and physical therapy company for filing false claims totaling $1.2 million with the Alabama Medicaid Agency for speech therapy services for children that were never provided. Kimberly Huggins Hamilton, 53, surrendered May 4, 2022, to the DeKalb County Jail and is being held on $30,000 bail.

Hamilton, formerly of Fort Payne, is now a resident of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She was arrested on one count of Medicaid Fraud, a class C felony, and one count of First-Degree Theft of Property, a class B felony.

The two arrest warrants charge that, from May 2016 through July 2019, Hamilton submitted claims to the Alabama Medicaid Agency for speech therapy services that were never performed and was paid $1,200,000 for those false claims.

The investigation was initiated by the Program Integrity Division of the Alabama Medicaid Agency, after statistical analysis of Hamilton’s billings showed that she was an outlier for speech therapy providers in Alabama with increasing reimbursement amounts but fewer patients. The findings were referred to Attorney General Marshall’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for further investigation, which resulted in the warrants for Hamilton’s arrest. Agents from the Birmingham office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Inspector General assisted the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with the investigation.

               *A warrant is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.