Press Release: 6/18/2025
Former South Deerfield Resident Pleads Guilty To Defrauding MassHealth's Personal Care Attendant Program
Defendant Sentenced to 2 Years in House of Correction, Suspended for 2 Years; Defendant and Co-Conspirators to Pay Restitution to MassHealth
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
6/18/2025
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Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary
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Call Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543
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Email Sabrina Zafar , Deputy Press Secretary at Sabrina.Zafar2@mass.gov
BOSTON — The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) today announced that Brenda Bialecki, formerly of South Deerfield, has pleaded guilty to charges related to a kickback scheme she orchestrated to defraud MassHealth’s Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program. According to the AGO, Bialecki, as a MassHealth member, conspired with two of her PCAs to cause the submission of false claims to MassHealth for PCA services that were never provided, medically unnecessary, and/or the result of kickbacks. As part of the kickback arrangement, Bialecki and her co-conspirators split the fraudulently obtained MassHealth proceeds amongst themselves.
On June 17, 2025, Bialecki pleaded guilty in Franklin County Superior Court to charges brought by the AGO in March 2024 in relation to the scheme, including one count of Medicaid False Claims, one count of Larceny over $1,200, and one count of Medicaid Kickbacks. As a result of the plea, Bialecki was sentenced to two years in the Franklin County House of Correction, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay $13,600 in restitution to MassHealth.
Earlier this year, in March 2025, Bialecki’s co-conspirators, Isaiah Salaam of Greenfield, and John Baracewicz, of Danvers, separately admitted to sufficient facts to be found guilty and agreed to pay $4,800 and $12,037.75, respectively, in restitution. In March 2024, Salaam and Baracewicz were similarly charged with one count of Medicaid False Claims, one count of Larceny over $1,200, and one count of Medicaid Kickbacks for their involvement in the scheme.
MassHealth’s PCA program helps individuals with chronic or long-term disabilities live independently in their community by providing medically necessary physical assistance with personal care needs. Through the PCA program, eligible MassHealth members employ PCAs to assist them with their activities of daily living. These services are paid for by MassHealth through a fiscal intermediary. Community based HHA and AFC programs also provide home health services to MassHealth members.
This matter is representative of the AGO’s commitment to combatting MassHealth fraud, including fraud of MassHealth’s PCA program. In March 2024, the AGO secured indictments against four individuals involved in submitting $500,000 in false claims to MassHealth for PCA and other services that were not provided. Similarly, in July 2024, the AGO secured indictments against two individuals for submitting $150,000 in false claims to MassHealth for PCA services that the AGO alleges were never provided.
This matter was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Sean Hildenbrandt and Scott Grannemann, of the AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division, with additional assistance from the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division is a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, annually certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute health care providers who defraud the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth. The Medicaid Fraud Division also has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of residents in long-term care facilities and of Medicaid patients in any health care setting. Individuals may file a MassHealth fraud complaint or report cases of abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients or long-term care residents by visiting the AGO’s website.
The Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,922,320 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $1,974,102 for FY 2025, is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.