§70.1. Medicaid fraud

            A. The crime of Medicaid fraud is the act of any person who, with intent to defraud the state or any person or entity through any medical assistance program created under the federal Social Security Act and administered by the Louisiana Department of Health or any other state agency, does any of the following:

            (1) Presents for allowance or payment any false or fraudulent claim for furnishing services or merchandise.

            (2) Knowingly submits false information for the purpose of obtaining greater compensation than that to which he is legally entitled for furnishing services or merchandise.

            (3) Knowingly submits false information for the purpose of obtaining authorization for furnishing services or merchandise.

            B. Whoever commits the crime of Medicaid fraud shall be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not more than five years, or may be fined not more than twenty thousand dollars, or both.

            C. In addition to the venue established by Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 611 and 614, venue shall also be appropriate in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, parish of East Baton Rouge.

            Acts 1989, No. 300, §1, eff. July 1, 1989; Acts 1997, No. 1018, §1; Acts 2001, No. 403, §1, eff. June 15, 2001; Acts 2015, No. 138, §1, eff. June 19, 2015.