June 29, 2012 Media Contact: Jenn Meale Phone: (850) 245-0150

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla – Attorney General Pam Bondi announced today the arrest of a Palm Beach speech language pathologist on charges of attempting to defraud the Medicaid program out of more than $459,000.

Geny Noble Lima, 61, is charged with grand theft and Medicaid fraud, both first degree felonies. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit say Lima, owner of Lima Therapy Group of Palm Beach, Inc., allowed speech language assistants to provide unsupervised speech therapy to Medicaid recipients, many of whom were children. Lima would then bill the Medicaid program for the services, in violation of program rules. Over a five year period, Lima billed more than $459,000 and was paid more than $214,000 by the Agency for Health Care Administration.

If convicted of all charges, she faces up to $1.5 million dollars in fines and 60 years in prison. The case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.