Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Florence Co. health worker charged with Medicaid fraud

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that his office’s Vulnerable Adults and Medicaid Provider Fraud unit (VAMPF) has arrested Jacqueline Burgess, 59 years old, of Scranton, SC, on one count of Medical Assistance Provider Fraud {43-07-0060}. Burgess was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on June 10, 2025.

An investigation by VAMPF revealed that, between December 4, 2023 and June 21, 2024, Burgess is alleged to have knowingly and willfully caused false claims for payments to the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that administers the State’s Medicaid program. Specifically, it is alleged that Burgess, as a care attendant with Tender Care Home Health Care, submitted false timesheets indicating that she had rendered care services for a Medicaid beneficiary when she did not.

This case was referred to law enforcement by Tender Care Home Health Care, which cooperated fully with investigators. This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office. 

Medical Assistance Provider Fraud is a class A misdemeanor and, upon conviction, has a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of not more than $1,000.  

Pursuant to federal regulations, VAMPF has authority over Medicaid provider fraud; abuse and neglect of Medicaid beneficiaries in any setting; and the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals residing in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. 

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

The South Carolina Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, dba VAMPF, receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,889,252 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $963,084 for FFY 2025, is funded by South Carolina.