A Virginia man has been sentenced for orchestrating fraudulent healthcare and unemployment schemes that caused over $1 million in losses. According to an official news release (March 12, 2025) from the Eastern District of Virginia’s US Attorney’s Office, 43-year-old Jamahl Rennelle Burch, also known as Jarod or Jerrod Burch, pleaded guilty on August 29 to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Between May 2015 and November 2023, Burch focused on two government benefit programs: Virginia Medicaid’s consumer-directed care program and Virginia’s unemployment program. He used the system to illegally obtain payments for personal care and respite care services, which are intended to help Medicaid patients stay in their homes rather than enter nursing homes.
Over an eight-year span, Burch submitted thousands of hours of fake timesheets using personal identifying information from Medicaid patients and personal care attendants (PCAs). He and his co-conspirators falsely claimed that services were delivered when, in fact, no care was given. As a result, Virginia Medicaid spent at least $936,950.70 on fraudulent reimbursements for non-existent treatments.
In addition to the healthcare fraud scheme, Burch defrauded Virginia’s unemployment insurance (UI) and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) programs. In 2020 and 2021, he submitted four bogus unemployment claims using the personal information of two of his alleged PCAs, saying they had been laid off. Two of these applications were approved, resulting in $15,720 in fraudulent unemployment benefits. Burch proceeded to abuse the system by making weekly certification requests, claiming that the persons were still unemployed and in need of assistance.
After being arrested in November 2023, Burch continued to disobey court orders that forbade him from contacting potential witnesses in his case. He proceeded to reach out to several individuals who have now also been charged as co-conspirators.
Burch has been instructed to pay $936,950.70 in restitution to Virginia Medicaid and $15,720 to the Virginia Unemployment Commission as part of his sentencing. He is also required to forfeit $806,008.38.
Burch has been sentenced to nine years and three months in federal prison for his crimes.
