‘Ghost' Hospital Temp Workers Busted for Fraud

Authorities are also looking for a former auditor who allegedly bilked Jackson Memorial out of $83,000

Two people have been arrested and another is wanted for their roles in a payroll scam that bilked Jackson Memorial Hospital out of more than $80,000 during an eight-month period, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Janet Lockwood, 35, and 23-year-old Kenneth Mitchell were arrested by Miami-Dade Police and charged with organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.

Authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for the hospital's former Audit Manager Tiffany Gordon-Smith, who is expected to turn herself in later this week.

“These were blatant thefts. One could only presume that Tiffany Gordon-Smith and her co-conspirators felt that they could just get away with it,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said. “Well the message today is you can’t get away with it and you won’t get away with it."

Authorities claim Gordon-Smith billed Jackson Memorial for work by ghost employees Lockwood and Mitchell. Gordon-Smith was so bold that she claimed the two temporary employees were working when they weren't even in town, prosecutors said.

Gordon-Smith oversaw the administration of temporary services by temp agency, "All Medical Personnel, Inc." and provided initial authorization for temporary employees' timesheets, prosecutors said.

Lockwood and Mitchell were recommended for temp work at Jackson by Gordon-Smith even though they did not meet the minimum requirements for the positions they were placed in,

Payroll records showed that the hospital was billed more than $34,000 during a four-month period in 2009 for work Lockwood allegedly performed. But an investigation by Miami-Dade Police revealed Lockwood was actually attending Navy boot camps in Michigan and Illinois during the same time period.

The hospital was billed close to $50,000 for work performed by Mitchell from August 2009 to February 2010 although Mitchell rarely reported to work, the state attorney's office said.

All but $400 per pay period was withdrawn from their accounts and given to Gordon-Smith, who was the mastermind behind the scheme, prosecutors allege.

"We are all concerned about how every dollar is being spent at Jackson Memorial Hospital and we will be looking hard to see if any more of those needed funds are being stolen,” Fernandez Rundle said.

Lockwood was being held in Miami-Dade jail on $20,000 bond. Mitchell has bonded out of jail. It's unclear if either had an attorney.

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