September 30, 2010 Media Contact: Jenn Meale Phone: (850) 245-0150

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TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Miami-Dade County resident is in custody after he allegedly defrauded the Florida Medicaid program out of more than $45,000. Percival Wignall, 78, surrendered today to law enforcement officers with the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Investigators with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit discovered that Wignall, who was the owner and operator of Sunnyman Retirement Home in Miami, had fraudulently billed for the same recipients as another Medicaid provider for the same services and dates. The investigation also revealed that Wignall had billed for Medicaid recipients who never lived at the retirement home. Between October 2005 and February 2006, Sunnyman Retirement Home was paid over $45,000 by the Agency for Health Care Administration for these fraudulent claims.

Wignall is charged with grand theft, Medicaid fraud and organized scheme to defraud, all second-degree felonies. If convicted of all charges, he faces up to 45 years in prison and up to a $30,000 fine. Wignall is currently being held in the Miami-Dade County jail. The case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.