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Thief billed state to take disabled to strip clubsNov 19, 2012 (The Columbus Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Canal Winchester man has been convicted of aggravated theft for billing the state for six-figures in "services" for developmentally disabled clients that included visits to strip clubs and bars. Marc Cox, 49, was ordered last week to repay $166,000 to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services after he pleaded guilty before Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy Horton. "The suspect would drop off individuals at a house to watch TV and play video games," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a statement. "We even found that he would take them to bars and strip clubs and then turn around and bill the state for the time they spent there," he said. Cox was placed on probation on Thursday and faces up to one year in prison if he violates the terms of his community control. Cox billed the state for services he did not provide, and was not certified to provide, to developmentally disabled clients, according to the attorney general's office. The man charged the state for providing one-on-one care, but instead was "treating" fewer than 10 individuals as a group and sometimes billed the state for more than 24 hours in a day, a spokeswoman for DeWine said. Cox used the provider information of the Parrish Foundation, a Columbus nonprofit, to bill the state. He had lost his certification as a care provider after being convicted of domestic violence, DeWine's office said. A DeWine spokeswoman said that officials of the nonprofit were unaware of the fraud. The Parrish Foundation could not be reached for comment this afternoon. Its listed telephone number has been disconnected. ___ (c)2012 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) Visit The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) at www.dispatch.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |