[PR] Five Individuals Charged in Health Care Fraud Scheme

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 18, 2020

WASHINGTON – Sharell Tishan Pitts, 43, Renardo Williams, 35, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr., 37, all of the District of Columbia, and Rhonda Pauline Williams, 38, of Oxon Hill, MD, were indicted on conspiracy, fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges relating to a $467,000 health care fraud scheme.  Vazena L. Chapman, 39, was charged separately by Criminal Information with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.  The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin and James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division.

            Sharell Pitts, Rhonda Williams, and Renardo Williams made their initial appearances at 3:30 p.m. on December 17, 2020 in federal court in the District of Columbia. 

            According to the indictment, Sharell Pitts and Rhonda Williams, who at the time worked for the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (“OSSE”), approached multiple co-conspirators at OSSE bus yards in the District of Columbia and offered to submit fraudulent Aflac supplemental health insurance claims on behalf of those co-conspirators in exchange for kickbacks.  Renardo Williams, who also worked for OSSE, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr., who worked for the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, played significant roles in the scheme.  Sharell Pitts, Rhonda Williams, Renardo Williams, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr. then obtained legitimate medical paperwork, which they falsified and shared with one another for purposes of submitting fraudulent claims for reimbursement with Aflac for themselves and co-conspirators. 

            As further alleged in the indictment, between May 2015 and October 2016, Sharell Pitts, Rhonda Williams, Renardo Williams, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr. submitted over 60 fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Aflac resulting in over $467,000 in payments.

            D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) Officer Chapman conspired with Pitts to submit several fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Aflac resulting in $36,805 in payments.

            An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

            This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division.  The D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (“DISB”) provided substantial assistance in this investigation.

            The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Kent of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.