Bridgeport Autism Agency Owner Pleads Guilty To Health Care Fraud

BRIDGEPORT, CT — The owner of an autism agency has pleaded guilty to health care fraud, according to Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Nicole Balkas, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.

According to prosecutors, Balkas owned and operated Helping Hands Academy, LLC, in Bridgeport, which provided applied behavior analysis services to children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

From December 2018 to October 2020, Balkas submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid for applied behavior analysis services, according to prosecutors. Balkas submitted claims when no applied behavior analysis services had been provided to the Medicaid clients identified in the claims.

She also inflated the number of hours for certain claims when applied behavior analysis had been provided to the Medicaid clients identified in the claims, according to prosecutors.

In September and October 2020, Balkas submitted and was paid for Medicaid claims in which she falsely claimed that a former Helping Hands Academy provider performed Medicaid-approved services. However, the provider had resigned from Helping Hands Academy in July 2019, according to prosecutors.

In August 2020, the Connecticut Department of Social Services terminated Helping Hands Academy as a provider of Medicaid services.

In attempting to reverse the termination and to receive payment for previously submitted claims, Balkas made several false statements and submitted an altered document to DSS, according to prosecutors.

Medicaid suffered a loss of $551,311.85 as a result of Balkas’ conduct.

She will be sentenced July 21 and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Balkas is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.