A fraud case filed against a Felix service provider is not minor, say the chairmen of a state legislative investigative committee. Legislative panel says
Felix fraud a grave matterThe committee's lawyers are trying
to persuade a key witness to testifyBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"Only time will tell, and it's unfortunate that certain people have made comments along the lines that they have without really knowing the full scope. That's OK, they may end up eating their words as usual," said Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, co-chairwoman of the panel examining state spending related to the Felix consent decree after the panel met yesterday.
The Joint Senate-House Investigative Committee convened yesterday for the first time since an Oahu grand jury indicted a therapeutic aide for 10 felony counts of medical assistance fraud for billing the state for $1,800 worth of services that were not delivered.
The state is under a consent decree to improve educational and mental health services for special-needs students in the public schools as a result of a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of special-education student Jennifer Felix.
Hanabusa (D, Waianae-Makaha) and Rep. Scott Saiki, committee chairmen, said they have heard criticism that the time and expense involved in the investigation did not amount to much in terms of criminal charges. They responded to reporters that the investigation has only begun.
"The best way to respond to that is that, you know, they should just wait. Let's all wait and see whether or not it is," Hanabusa said.
The state Attorney General's Office has said this case is one of several they are investigating.
Members of the Attorney General's Office, Deputy Attorney General Michael Parrish and Medicaid Investigations Division Supervisor Dewey Kim met committee members behind closed doors yesterday.
Saiki said they indicated that they are continuing their investigation and that the office hot line has received a number of calls from parents, employees of the departments of Health and Education and others concerned about Felix-related contracts.
"They anticipate that there may be further indictments given the number of calls they've received," Saiki (D, Moiliili-Pawaa) said. "One of the concerns that they did raise was that they have to go through voluminous documents in order to obtain indictments, and it's a very time-consuming process. So that's one of the hurdles they face."
Meanwhile, committee members said they hope to hear next month from a key witness.
The committee's lawyers are negotiating with the lawyers for Judith Schrag for her appearance and sworn testimony before the committee.
Schrag was a member of a team that provided technical assistance to the state on compliance issues. Hanabusa said committee members hope Schrag will be able to give them an overview from the beginning of the consent decree until now.
The committee's original subpoena for Schrag was quashed by U.S. District Judge David Ezra.
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