Frank's Taxi owner, 3 others indicted on medicaid transportation fraud charges

Frank's Taxi has been around since 2013.

CONCORD - The owner of a local taxi company well known for its $5 anywhere in Rochester fares as well as several others associated with the business have been indicted in a nearly yearlong scheme to falsely charge for nonemergency medicaid transportation services that racked up some $20,000 in fraudulent payments for those services.

Those formlly charged are Frank's Taxi owner Edward Donnell IV, 38, Liudmila Bulatova, 36, who did the bookkeeping; David Hackney, 39, a mechanic and driver; and Angelica Soule, age 32, Hackney's girlfriend.

The charges are all related to allegedly presenting fraudulent claims for non-emergency medical transportation services, and obtaining more than $20,000 for transportation services that were never provided between June 2, 2015, and April 30, 2016, by the Somersworth-based taxi company.

Donnell, Hackney, Bulatova and Soule were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, a class A felony, one count of theft by deception, a class A felony, one count of conspiracy to make false claims, a class B felony and one count of making false claims, a class B felony in connection with scheme to defraud the State's Medicaid Program.

In addition, Donnell was charged with one count of Presenting False Records and one count of Destruction of Records, both class B felonies.

The penalty for each false claims indictment is 3½-7 years, for the theft by deception it is 7 ½-15 years, and for Presenting False Records and Destruction of Records it's 3 ½-7 years.

The company currently lists a Farmington address on Ten Rod Road.

The firm has been around since 2013 and for years was known locally for its $5 anywhere in Rochester fares.

The four will all be arraigned in the Strafford County Superior Court on Jan. 2.

An indictement is not an indication of guilt, rather than enough evidence has been presented to a grand jury to move forward to trial.

Attorney Stephanie J. Johnson, Assistant Attorney General Thomas T. Worboys, and Investigator Robert Sullivan are prosecuting and investigating this case for the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which investigates and prosecutes fraud by healthcare providers who treat Medicaid beneficiaries.

Healthcare providers include, but are not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, dentists, pharmacies, ambulance companies, and anyone else who is paid for providing healthcare services to Medicaid beneficiaries. Anyone can report a case of provider fraud to MFCU at (603) 271-1246.