A Fairfield woman faces felony charges after a Franklin County grand jury indicted her and nine other Ohio Medicaid providers for allegedly stealing a combined $563,860 from the taxpayer-funded health care program, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced Wednesday, July 15.

Ashley Lawton, 40, is accused of billing Medicaid $91,969 for home-health and transportation services she never provided between 2021 and 2026. According to the attorney general's office, investigators found extensive billing during periods when Lawton was traveling in Denver; Cancun, Mexico; Destin, Florida; Las Vegas; Orlando, Florida; and New York City. Records also show she consistently billed beyond her authorized service and mileage limits, and clients reported she routinely billed for far more hours than she worked.

Three other Greater Cincinnati-area residents were also indicted in separate cases:

Toni Heldman, 68, of Mason, allegedly billed at a higher reimbursement rate by falsely claiming she lived separately from her client, a relative. Investigators say Heldman leased an Airbnb for a few days to deceive a county caseworker during a routine monitoring visit and asked another aide to lie to investigators about the living arrangement. The alleged loss to Medicaid: $7,149.

Josh Jackson, 29, of Cincinnati, allegedly continued submitting timesheets and clocking into his employer's electronic visit-verification system for a year after he stopped providing services to a client. Employment records from Cincinnati Public Schools and a sporting-goods store showed he was working other jobs while billing Medicaid for services, according to the AG's office. The alleged loss: $20,131.

Kandis Smith, 32, of Cincinnati, is accused of submitting fraudulent timesheets for 35 days of in-home services while her client was hospitalized or in a nursing home. The alleged loss: $4,246.

"It's important to remember that these are your tax dollars being stolen," Wilson said in the July 15 announcement.

All 10 defendants are charged as Medicaid providers, not as patients or recipients. The cases are separate from one another and are being investigated by Ohio's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

The indictments are criminal allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court. The attorney general's office did not announce arraignment dates or next court appearances for any of the 10 defendants. The cases are pending in Franklin County.

Residents who suspect Medicaid fraud can report it to the Ohio Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at 800-282-0515.