CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced the former owner of Clay Transportation pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $180,000 from the state by fraudulently submitting Medicaid claims for transportation services he did not provide.
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Raoul’s office is prosecuting Antonio Clay, 42, of Prospect Heights, Illinois, who pleaded guilty to a Class 1 charge of vendor fraud. He has already paid $40,000 in restitution to the state’s Medicaid program. His sentencing hearing with Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas J. Byrne is scheduled for July 2.
“It is unacceptable that anyone would take advantage of programs intended to provide healthcare for our most vulnerable Illinois residents,” Raoul said. “I will continue to hold individuals accountable if they exploit critical aid programs for their own financial gain.”
The Attorney General’s office prosecuted this case based on a referral from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS).
Raoul’s investigators determined that from January 2018 to May 2022, Clay submitted false Medicaid claims to HFS for transportation services to 18 recipients that he did not provide. As a result, Clay received $179,455.
“Protecting the integrity of Medicaid is key in providing the highest quality healthcare services to the people of Illinois, and this value remains at the forefront of the work of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services” said HFS Director Elizabeth M. Whitehorn. “HFS is grateful to Attorney General Raoul and his team for their partnership ensuring that vendors working with this vital program are ethically and responsibly serving the people of our state.”
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Melissa Guske for Raoul’s Medicaid Fraud Bureau.
