Romeoville Woman Pleads Guilty to $38,000 Medicaid Fraud Scheme Involving Out-of-State Son (Chicago, IL) — For more than two years, a Romeoville woman submitted routine paperwork to the state of Illinois claiming her son was working diligently as her state-funded personal caregiver. There was just one glaring problem with the arrangement: he was living more than a thousand miles away in Texas.
This week, the deceptive billing scheme came to an end. Yohanna Tab, 57, pleaded guilty in Will County Circuit Court to a single count of Class 2 felony fraud, closing a case that siphoned tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars from a critical state safety net.
The fraud centered on the Illinois Medicaid Home Services Program, an initiative designed to keep vulnerable, disabled, or elderly residents out of institutional nursing facilities by providing them with in-home support. Often, this program allows family members to be fairly compensated for stepping up to provide daily care for their loved ones.
According to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Tab was a legitimate recipient of these Medicaid services, and her son, Johnny Collier, was officially designated as her personal care assistant. However, prosecutors revealed that Collier moved to Texas in January 2022. Despite his departure and the physical impossibility of him providing daily in-home care, Tab continued to submit claims for his labor month after month.
Between January 2022 and February 2024, the ghost-caregiver setup allowed Tab to fraudulently receive $38,406 in Medicaid benefits before the state caught on to the discrepancy.
As part of her plea agreement, the court ordered full restitution of the $38,406 to be paid back to the state of Illinois. Additionally, a sentence of second chance probation was handed down—a diversionary judicial program that typically offers first-time non-violent offenders the opportunity to keep a felony conviction off their permanent record, provided they strictly comply with all court mandates and repay their stolen debts.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul condemned the exploitation of the state’s limited healthcare resources, emphasizing the real-world impact of such financial crimes.
“Illinois’ Medicaid program provides our most vulnerable residents with vital, in-home support and care,” Raoul said following the plea. “This program and its patients should not be taken advantage of, which is why my office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit will continue to prioritize this fraudulent activity and hold those who cheat our systems accountable.”
The investigation that ultimately brought Tab to justice was spearheaded by Raoul’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The unit opened the case after receiving a tip and subsequent referral from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services’ Office of the Inspector General (HFS-OIG), which monitors the system for irregularities.
HFS Inspector General Brian Dunn praised the inter-agency collaboration that stopped the bleeding of state funds.
“HFS‑OIG is proud of our partnership with the Attorney General’s Office to protect the Medicaid program,” Dunn said. “This result demonstrates our unwavering commitment to safeguard Medicaid funds for the individuals who rely on them.”
Assistant Attorney General Dan Duffy led the prosecution for the state. The state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit operates as a heavily subsidized watchdog, receiving 75% of its funding—over $12.2 million for the 2027 fiscal year—from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The state of Illinois funds the remaining 25%, ensuring dedicated resources remain available to police vital public healthcare expenditures.
Romeoville Woman Pleads Guilty to $38,000 Medicaid Fraud Scheme Involving Out-of-State Son
