Mary Melero death partly tied to Medicaid fraud conspiracy

Keyona Zamora pleaded guilty to three counts of Medicaid Fraud and three counts of falsification of documents in mid-December in a case that is related to the those against caretakers accused of causing the death of a developmentally disabled woman, Mary Melero.

The details of Zamora’s crimes were released by the New Mexico Department of Justice Feb. 29.

According to a partial preliminary supplemental report, Zamora was interviewed by NMDOJ and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit about her involvement with the Melero case. As part of Zamora’s plea agreement, she agreed to provide testimony about the case to authorities, including at the trial for all those facing charges.

The report summarizes that Zamora conspired with her mother to commit the fraud while Zamora was under contract employment with At Home Advocacy (AHA). She admitted that she falsely claimed that she gave services to Melero between Sept. 2, 2022, and Jan. 23, 2023, amounting to $8,745. That care never occurred, though AHA paid her via Medicaid through the New Mexico Developmentally Disabled (DD) Waiver program. The alleged services were for Customized Community Supports, which consists of a paid provider taking a DD Waiver client into the community to complete various activities.

Zamora admitted the timesheets regarding CCS services to Melero were fraudulent and that the CCS hours she billed via AHA were false and that the services were never rendered. Zamora specified 24 handwritten timesheets that she completed and submitted from Sept. 2, 2022, through Jan. 23, 2023, for payment that never occurred.

Additionally, Zamora admitted to an additional fraud resulting in a loss of $886.37 on Oct. 28, 2022, and Jan. 24, 2023, concerning overlapped billing for services. When Zamora claimed to have performed the services, she was on shift at a different employer. Zamora, the report notes, had already pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud in this case.

There are additional parties tied to the fraud in the report, but their names have been redacted.

Zamora’s case has been joined with the cases against Angelica Chacon and Patricia Hurtado. A trial date has not been set yet, but status conferences for each of the women involved have been scheduled. While Zamora has pleaded guilty for the fraud, she won’t be sentenced until the other cases are resolved.