WICHITA – (January 30, 2023) – A Wichita man has been sentenced to repay the Kansas Medicaid system more than $14,000 for his conviction on two Medicaid fraud-related charges, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said today.
Johnson Kongvongsay pleaded guilty in December 2022, in Sedgwick County District Court to one felony count of making a false claim, statement or representation to the Medicaid program and one misdemeanor count of unlawful acts concerning computers. Sedgwick County District Judge Tylor Roush on January 26 sentenced Johnson Kongvongsay to 18 months in jail, but suspended that sentenced and ordered him to repay the Kansas Medicaid program $14,857.78 and serve 12 months of supervised probation.
An investigation found Kongvongsay and his daughter, Kyla Kongvongsay, at different points in time were working as personal care assistants for a relative who was a Medicaid beneficiary. Investigators found that the father and daughter were submitting false claims, purporting to be providing personal care services to the relative when they were actually working other jobs. Investigators found that they committed $30,947.45 worth of fraud.
Kyla Kongvongsay, 22, of Wichita, pleaded guilty in December 2022, in Sedgwick County District Court to one felony count of making a false claim, statement or representation to the Medicaid program and one misdemeanor count of unlawful acts concerning computers. Retired Sedgwick County Judge Ben Burgess accepted the plea to the two misdemeanors and sentenced Kyla Kongvongsay to repay the Kansas Medicaid program $16,089.67. He also sentenced her to serve 12 months of supervised probation.
The cases are part of “Operation Keeping Them Honest,” a cooperative effort between the attorney general’s office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Inspector General to investigate fraudulent billing to Medicaid for personal care services provided in Medicaid beneficiaries’ homes. This sentencing brings to a close the latest case in this joint effort to crack down on those who take advantage of these federal- and state-administered healthcare programs. To date, nine cases have been filed with the court and six have reached the sentencing phase.
Other investigations are ongoing. The cases are being jointly investigated by federal and state authorities and prosecuted by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division. Senior Assistant Attorney General Eve Kemple of Kobach’s office prosecuted the cases against Johnson Kongvongsay and Kyla Kongvongsay.
The following statement about the Kansas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is required by the federal government: The Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division in the Attorney General’s Office receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,307,236 for Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2023. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $769,075 for FFY 2023, is funded by the Office of the Kansas Attorney General from moneys recovered in litigation.