“Stealing funds meant to serve developmentally disabled members of our community is reprehensible and absolutely unacceptable,” James said in a news release. “For years, Shirley Goddard exploited our state’s Medicaid program and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars that were supposed to help some of our state’s most vulnerable residents. With this sentencing and the restitution of stolen funds, we are sending a clear message that anyone who steals from Medicaid will be discovered, prosecuted, and punished for their crimes.”
In March, Goddard pled guilty to embezzling $650,809.32 from H.O.M.E. during the period of Jan. 1, 2014 to on or about Sept. 30, 2018, and agreed to pay back the stolen amount to the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The funds will then be returned to H.O.M.E. to replenish the amount that Goddard stole.
Goddard was sentenced Tuesday to a term of one to three years in prison and ordered to pay $610,809 in remaining restitution.
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In addition to the criminal prosecution conducted by MFCU, OAG’s Charities Bureau filed a civil lawsuit against Shirley and Tyrone Goddard to recover funds that Shirley admitted to stealing, as well as other misappropriated charitable assets. OAG has also sought a permanent bar prohibiting the Goddards from holding any fiduciary role in a charitable or nonprofit organization in New York state. That lawsuit remains pending.
