The Mayor of the Town of Winnsboro was Tuesday by the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation for Medicaid fraud in a $75,000 benefits scheme.
Based on a referral from the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Louisiana Bureau of Investigation (LBI) agents investigated allegations of government benefits fraud by 50-year-old Alice Wallace of Winnsboro in Franklin Parish.
LBI found Wallace fraudulently received Medicaid benefits for herself and a dependent between 2021 and 2026. Wallace did not report to LDH a change in household income, failed to disclose her marital status, and intentionally misrepresented the availability of health insurance provided through her employers.
Agents found Wallace failed to notify LDH that she was employed from 2021 through 2022, where she received a salary and was offered health coverage insurance. From 2022 through 2026, Wallace was employed by the Town of Winnsboro as the elected mayor, and did not report to LDH that employment, income, or availability of medical health coverage as required.
LBI’s investigation revealed Wallace and her dependent continuously utilized Medicaid program benefits from 2021 through 2026, while she received a salary that made her ineligible to receive benefits from the State and the LDH programs. The LDH Medicaid Fraud Division found that Wallace fraudulently received benefits for a combined loss of claims of approximately $75,000.
LBI obtained an arrest warrant for Wallace through the 19th Judicial District Court for six counts of government benefits fraud.
Wallace was arrested for knowingly concealing and failing to disclose material facts affecting her and her dependents’ continued eligibility to receive benefits from the Louisiana Department of Health Medicaid program. Those six counts pertain to the years of 2021 through 2026, in which Wallace was known to be employed, received an income, failed to disclose that income as required, and continued to receive benefits.
Attorney General Liz Murrill said, “It doesn’t matter who you are—if you defraud the hardworking taxpayers of Louisiana, you’re going to jail.” LBI is a unit of the Office of the Attorney General.
Wallace surrendered to LBI agents on April 21 and was booked into the East Baton Rouge Prison.
Bail has not been set and the investigation is ongoing.
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