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Woman indicted in fraud scheme against senior citizens

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A local woman was indicted on federal health care fraud charges, after investigators say she lured senior citizens with promises of free prescription glasses, and then would charge Medicaid or Medicare for expensive procedures which were never performed.

After being arrested for health care fraud in 2009, Investigators say Matilda Prince was ordered during a proceeding in DeKalb County Superior Court to never work for any entity that receives funding from Medicaid/Medicare and to pay restitution in the amount $109,712.26

But federal investigators say she continued her scheme.

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From 2011 to 2014, investigators say Prince, used “Pickens Eye Clinic” and “Eye Gallery 20/20” as part of her scheme to defraud the taxpayer funded programs.

“As part of the scheme to defraud, Prince traveled with these optometrists to private and public housing complexes with large senior citizen populations, as well as churches and community centers, and informed the Medicare and Medicaid recipients that the cost of eye exams and prescription glasses would be fully covered under Medicare and Medicaid,” read the indictment filed in the United States District Court for Northern District of Georgia.

After Prince obtained the Medicaid/Medicare numbers, federal prosecutors says she would use those identities to bill for expensive and complex procedures that were never performed.

Prince did not return a voice mail left on her phone.