In a press release from the TBI, a Jasper woman has been indicted and arrested, following a joint investigation by special agents with the TBI Medicaid Fraud Control Division and detectives with the South Pittsburg Police Department.
In July 2024, following a referral from Adult Protect Services, agents and detectives began investigating reports of irregularities in financial records of some residents of a South Pittsburg health care facility. During the course of the investigation, agents developed information that from May 2022 through July 2024, the company’s then-business manager, Ashley Pickett, was responsible for the financial exploitation of four of the residents there. Pickett is no longer employed at the facility.
On February 3, the Marion County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Ashley Nicole Pickett (DOB 01/16/1987) with two counts of Financial Exploitation of an Elderly/ Vulnerable Person $10,000-$60,000, two counts of Financial Exploitation of an Elderly/ Vulnerable Person $2,500-$10,000 and one count of Forgery. Pickett was arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Marion County Jail on a $75,000 bond.
The charges and allegations referenced in this release are merely accusations of criminal conduct and not evidence. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted through due process of law.
NOTE: The TBI’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $10,782,912 for federal Fiscal Year 2024-2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $3,594,302 for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, is funded by the State of Tennessee.
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