Three Maryland residents pled guilty to defrauding the Maryland Medicaid program of more than $3.6 million by falsely billing for mental health treatments at two Baltimore behavioral health organizations, despite one previous conviction for a similar scheme.
According to a news release issued on Monday, May 19, “Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced that three individuals have pleaded guilty to defrauding the Maryland Medicaid program of more than $3.6 million through behavioral health companies in Baltimore, Maryland.” Tasha S. Saunders, 44, of Parkville, Maryland, pled guilty on February 25, 2025, to two counts of cheating the Maryland Medicaid program out of about $3.6 million by claiming for mental health treatments that were never performed. Robert Higgins later pleaded guilty to two counts of Medicaid fraud stemming from his participation in running the two behavioral health enterprises with Saunders and agreed to repay $341,900. Tamyra Jordan, 24, Saunders’ daughter, pleaded guilty to cheating the Medicaid program out of $298,000. Medicaid is a cooperative federal-state program that offers healthcare benefits to low-income people.
From November 2019 to September 2024 and January 2022 to September 2024, Saunders, Jordan, and Higgins ran Guiding Lives, Inc. and Another Chance Supportive Services, Inc. (ACSS), both at 6305 Belair Road in Baltimore, and falsely billed for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program (PRP) services. The Maryland Department of Health administers PRP, which provides community-based comprehensive rehabilitation and recovery services to individuals with serious mental health problems.
These prosecutions follow Saunders’ conviction in 2021 for a similar Medicaid fraud scheme involving two former behavioral health companies that he operated. As a result of the conviction, Saunders was barred from participating in government healthcare programs. In the previous case, Saunders admitted to establishing bogus patient files, taking the identities of licensed counselors, and submitting fraudulent Medicaid claims for PRP services that were not performed. Saunders was sentenced to nine months in prison, followed by nine months of home detention, five years of supervised probation, and a $470,744.67 restitution order.
Despite her 2021 conviction, Saunders continued the scam while in jail, concealing her ownership of the corporation and running Guiding Lives through Jordan and Higgins. Jordan and Higgins submitted fraudulent claims by forging signatures, creating fake patient records, and stealing the identities of both providers and receivers. Saunders also founded ACSS in September 2022, disguising her ownership by using stolen personal identity information from others while on probation. Saunders and Higgins implemented the same method using ACSS.
As a result of the new allegations, the court determined Saunders to have breached the terms of her probation on February 2, 2025, and sentenced her to three and a half years in prison. Saunders is due to be sentenced in the current case on July 21, 2025. Higgins will be sentenced on July 15, 2025, while Jordan will be sentenced on November 7, 2025.
Attorney General Brown thanked Assistant Attorneys General James M.C. McHale and Catherine Schuster Pascale, as well as Senior Fraud Analyst Paul Kidd, Fraud Analyst Laura Webber, and Senior Investigative Auditor Todd Sheffer from the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit, for their contributions to this case. Attorney General Brown also commended the Office of Inspector General, Health and Human Services Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Andre Jacobs, and Special Agent Matt Gray, as well as the Maryland State Police.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit receives 75% of its money from the United States Department of Health and Human Services through a grant award of $6,845,828 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The state of Maryland provides the remaining 25%, $2,281,939, for FY 2025.
