Beachwood Woman Defrauds Medicaid of $80,000

A Beachwood woman was convicted of defrauding Medicaid for the second time after she used her son’s name to contract with the medical care provider, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

Joyce Balin Fried and her son Harold Fantl stole $83,731 from Medicaid. As part of their sentencing, they have reimbursed Medicaid, plus paid just over $9,000 to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for investigative costs.

Fried was convicted in 2010 of billing Medicaid for hearing aid batteries that she did not give to her patients. She was sentenced to pay the state back $35,000 and the government revoked her Medicaid agreement.

Now investigators say that Fried used her son’s name to create a new business, Fantl Hearing, LLC., and a new agreement with Medicaid — circumventing her own ban from being a Medicaid provider.

She was convicted of felony Medicaid fraud and sentenced to two years of probation.

Fantl was convicted last month of misdemeanor falsification.