Mesa woman pleads guilty to multimillion-dollar fraud targeting AHCCCS

PHOENIX – A Mesa woman admitted in court to defrauding Arizona’s Medicaid agency of millions of dollars, authorities said Thursday.

Diana Marie Moore, 42, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of wire fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said.

Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18. Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The penalty for money laundering is up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

As part of her plea deal, Moore agreed to forfeit four homes, seven luxury vehicles and over 100 other items, including jewelry and artwork, that she purchased with fraudulent proceeds.

Moore owned several behavioral health counseling services that were medical providers for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s Medicaid agency.

Moore’s counseling services received over $22 million in payments from AHCCCS between January 2020 December 2021, prosecutors said.

She was accused of paying other providers to bring AHCCCS enrollees to her clinics, which fraudulently billed the state agency for up to 90 days of services for patients who made one visit.

Moore regularly billed AHCCCS for eight or more hours a day for months in a row for services that weren’t provided, prosecutors said.

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