October 28, 2026 ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL ANNOUNCES COOK COUNTY MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MEDICAID FRAUD; ORDERED TO PAY $9,000 IN RESTITUTION

Daquawn Bernard, 29, of Chicago, pleaded guilty in Cook County Circuit Court to a Class 2 felony count of theft of government property in connection with a scheme to defraud the Illinois Medicaid program. Bernard was sentenced to second chance probation and ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution. The loss amount was alleged to be nearly $10,000. The Illinois Attorney General's office alleges that between May 2021 and August 2022, Bernard billed the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) for home-based services purportedly provided to a Medicaid recipient who was, at the time of the billed services, a patient at a hospital or long-term care facility. The billing covered hours of in-home services that Bernard did not perform. The case was investigated by the Illinois Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Mary Pat Devereux, following a referral from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Office of Inspector General (HFS-OIG). The MFCU receives 75% of its funding from HHS under a grant totaling $12,292,668 for federal fiscal year 2027, with the remaining 25%, totaling $4,097,556, funded by the state of Illinois. This case is identified as part of a coordinated nationwide law enforcement action resulting in charges against 455 defendants, including 90 licensed medical professionals, for alleged participation in healthcare fraud and opioid abuse schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims.