McDonnell seeks review of Richmond Medicaid office video

Project Veritas: Medicaid undercover video (Added: July 22, 2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcTTihk6 ... r_embedded

Gov. Bob McDonnell is asking Virginia State Police to review a video that appears to show a Richmond Medicaid employee advising a man not to disclose an illegal drug and prostitution business on a Med

By Olympia Meola
Published: July 22, 2011

Gov. Bob McDonnell is asking Virginia State Police to review a video released this week that appears to be hidden-camera footage of an exchange in a Richmond Medicaid office in which a staffer advises a man not to disclose an illegal drug and prostitution business on a Medicaid application.

The 9:29-minute long video was posted on the web site of Project Veritas, as the fourth in a series of "undercover investigations into Medicaid fraud." A spokesman for the group said videos from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties are coming next week.

Project Veritas describes itself as a "nonprofit organization dedicated to training video muckrakers nationwide." It's run by James O'Keefe, known best for his hidden-camera investigation of the group ACORN.

In the video supposedly from a Richmond office, a man poses as a Russian and asks about Medicaid for his father, saying his line of work is "like what you might call like Bob Marley Pharmaceutical."

He says he doesn't want a home search and that "my father, he has girls who work for him and they might do a favor, a sexual favor, for client to kind of help business and so a lot of the girls need a lot of abortion."

"But like, we won't get in trouble for like running ... the drug business, or like, illegal prostitution?" he asks the staffer.

She allegedly replies "just leave that off your application. Don't put that on there."

McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said in a statement that "The governor led the fight against Medicaid fraud as attorney general of Virginia. His Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was named the number one unit in the country in 2008 by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

"He is extremely concerned about any allegations of fraud and has asked the State Police to review this video and take whatever actions are appropriate."

A Virginia Department of Social Services spokeswoman told The Times-Dispatch on Thursday that it is "aware of three contacts at local departments of social services (Spotsylvania County, Stafford County and the City of Richmond) whereby persons posed as needing public assistance and alleged that they were engaged in criminal activities. VDSS is currently looking into this matter and working with these local agencies."

The video shows a date of 2007, but a spokesman for Project Veritas said the time was not set properly and that the video was filmed on July 1 of this year.

Project Veritas' James O'Keefe, who is known for his hidden-camera work of the group ACORN, posted on his website that "In this time of economic uncertainty, the American people deserve to know how their tax dollars are being wasted."

"As Project Veritas has shown, this is not an isolated incident. Government workers willing to aid people with criminal backgrounds and great wealth should be an outrage to every American."

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virg ... r-1190062/