Austin nonprofit that distributed COVID-19 vaccines accused of fraud by Austin auditor

An Austin nonprofit medical clinic that helped distribute COVID-19 vaccines has been accused of fraud by the town auditor.

Driving the information: Between December 2020 and September 2021, Central Texas Allied Well being Institute, misrepresented over $1.1 million price of monetary transactions throughout three contracts with Austin Public Well being, the Workplace of the Metropolis Auditor alleged in a report Thursday.

• In whole, CTAHI was improperly paid roughly $417,000 due to its fraudulent contract claims, per the report.
• As well as, CTAHI seems to have overstated its whole vaccination numbers and fabricated affected person data below its contract to supply COVID-19 vaccines, the report alleges.

Context: CTAHI is a medical coaching college geared toward getting extra individuals of coloration into the medical workforce.

The intrigue: In October 2021, Austin Public Well being knowledgeable the town auditor’s workplace that CTAHI may need supplied falsified monetary information to the division as a part of its contract claims.

• Within the report, the auditors say they “discovered proof that two of CTAHI’s leaders, Todd Hamilton and Jereka Thomas-Hockaday, produced or submitted falsified paperwork and directed CTAHI workers to falsify contract-related information.”
• Each denied doing so, per the report.

By the numbers: In its last report back to Austin Public Well being, CTAHI claimed it administered about 3,500 COVID-19 vaccinations. Nevertheless, CTAHI seems to have overstated this quantity by roughly 1,020 doses, or about 30%, per the report

• The nonprofit claimed it administered over 1,000 vaccines on a single day: June 5, 2021. However a witness stated the clinic noticed a most of about 80 vaccine sufferers a day, per the auditor’s report.
• CTAHI’s vaccine entries for June 5 contained 131 repeated dates of delivery, per the auditor’s report.

State of play: In June 2022, CTAHI agreed to repay Austin Public Well being over $375,000 after Austin Public Well being’s inner audits discovered CTAHI submitted “inaccurate and falsified fee requests” in two contracts, per the town report.

• As of this month, CTAHI had repaid Austin Public Well being about $12,500, however had didn’t pay over $68,000 in scheduled month-to-month funds, as specified by its fee plan, per the town auditor’s report.

What they’re saying: In a response from the group included within the metropolis auditor’s report, CTAHI blamed falsification of paperwork on “disgruntled workers” who had been fired and stated the group had had a tough time making funds “solely due to the direct actions of the town auditors.”

• The investigation has “brought on all however two funders to tug their assist of the group and brought on a monetary scenario that has led to decreased enrollment, worker layoffs, and pull out of a contract that might have made the group solvent.”

In an announcement to Axios, Hamilton and Thomas-Hockaday denied “any intentional or unintentional fraudulent exercise.”

• “CTAHI volunteered to help with COVID response as a result of we noticed the individuals of the Japanese Crescent dying earlier than our very eyes and our native authorities was grossly ailing ready to serve those that wanted them probably the most,” Thomas-Hockaday stated within the assertion.
• “There’s a long-documented historical past of the Metropolis of Austin having difficulties working with small minority contractors after which blaming the failures in execution on the contractors themselves,” she stated.

Of notice: Thomas-Hockaday was featured in a latest season of Queer Eye — and stated she hoped the publicity would assist hold her clinic working.

What’s subsequent: The matter has been referred to the Austin Police Division, auditors stated of their report.