Sandy Home Care Manager Charged with Medicaid Fraud
A home care provider manager in Sandy, who offers medical and personal assistance to seniors, faces charges for allegedly overbilling Medicaid while purchasing a home and two cars.
Caleb David Richardson, 27, from Herriman, was charged in 3rd District Court with three counts related to violations of the Utah False Claims Act, classified as a second-degree felony.
Richardson’s company, Grandkids LLC, was established in 2020, with him as the registered manager. He later rebranded it in 2023 as Helperly Corp., also a home health care service, as noted in the indictment.
In August 2024, the Utah Office of Inspector General flagged both Grandkids and Helperly for submitting duplicate claims. By February 2025, they received reports suggesting possible Medicaid fraud.
According to the complaint, employees at Helperly indicated that caregivers were directed to wait in their vehicles, even when clients did not need assistance, in order to bill the maximum amount possible.
In a March interview with the Inspector General, Richardson stated that financial struggles at Helperly forced him to overcharge Medicaid for services he didn’t provide, summarizing the inflated charges to around $350,000 over a five-month span. He mentioned looking into venture capital for developing an app for Helperly, claiming he had already invested about $350,000. Richardson said he spent $750,000 to keep his staff on payroll while they continued to invest.
Investigators later found that the day before his questioning, Richardson had informed Helperly’s leadership about increasing his Medicaid billing units to ensure payroll could be maintained. He reportedly expressed a lack of concern, believing fines would not affect him in the long run.
The indictment highlights that while Richardson was allegedly overbilling Medicaid, he also acquired two new vehicles and a house. Furthermore, he requested that his salary be temporarily lowered to allow for budget restructuring and repayment to Medicaid, while his wife, Emily, who was the highest-paid employee at Helperly, continued receiving her full salary of $120,000 per year. Claims arose that she was listed as an executive assistant but did not report to the office.
When questioned by the Attorney General’s Office, Richardson claimed to have performed a self-audit that revealed he had received $257,099 from Utah Medicaid for unprovided services. However, investigators countered this with their own audit, declaring Richardson’s claims were inaccurate. The state audit alleged he submitted multiple duplicate claims and nearly 880 fraudulent claims amounting to a loss of $253,962 within a year from 2024 to 2025.
Addressing the acquisition of the Herriman home, Richardson noted challenges in financing due to his business ownership status and remarked that he increased his annual salary by $85,000 to qualify for the new purchase. His wife was reportedly compensated $120,000 annually for her role at Helperly but only devoted about 20% of her time to related tasks. The charges also stated he gifted her $25,000 for the house purchase.
