ATLANTA, GA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr today announced with the Department of Justice that Elizabeth Sue Ivester, 62, of Warner Robins, has been charged by federal indictment for allegedly engaging in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Medicaid program of more than $5.4 million. The charges filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (Macon Division) are part of the Department of Justice’s 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown. The indictment was obtained by Carr’s Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

“Prosecuting Medicaid fraud is a top priority for our office, and we’re proud to work with our federal partners in this effort,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. “Defrauding Medicaid is the same as stealing taxpayer dollars, and we will hold violators accountable.”

“This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Make no mistake – this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities.”

Elizabeth Sue Ivester was charged by indictment with Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud, Health Care Fraud, and Aggravated Identity Theft, in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud Medicaid of over $5.4 million for durable medical equipment (“DME”) that was neither ordered nor supplied to Medicaid recipients. As alleged in the indictment, Ivester, the owner and operator of Liberty Medical, Inc., unlawfully used Medicaid recipients’ identification numbers to submit fraudulent claims by falsely representing that one physician ordered 77,095 pieces of DME that were not ordered by the physician and never delivered to the Medicaid recipients. 

“The scale of today’s Takedown is unprecedented, and so is the harm we’re confronting. Individuals who attempt to steal from the federal health care system and put vulnerable patients at risk will be held accountable,” said HHS-OIG Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins. “Our agents at HHS-OIG work relentlessly to detect, investigate, and dismantle these fraud schemes. We are proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in protecting taxpayer dollars and safeguarding patient care.”

A Federal Grand Jury returned the indictment* against Ivester on May 14, 2025. The defendant was arrested by HHS-OIG and arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles H. Weigle in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (Macon Division) on June 17, 2025. This case is being prosecuted by Tarrea D. Williams of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, in her capacity as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

The charges announced today by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and in conjunction with the Department of Justice are part of a strategically coordinated, nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants. The defendants allegedly defrauded programs entrusted for the care of the elderly and disabled to line their own pockets. 

Descriptions of each case involved in today’s enforcement action are available on the Department of Justice’s website here.

About the Georgia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division

Since Attorney General Chris Carr first took office, his Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division has secured more than 90 convictions for Medicaid fraud and the abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults, resulting in over $19 million in restitution orders in criminal matters. Over this same period, Carr’s Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division has obtained civil settlements and judgements totaling more than $108 million as a result of its efforts to safeguard the Georgia Medicaid program.

The Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,180,400 for Federal FY 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $1,726,800, is funded by the State of Georgia.

*Members of the public should keep in mind that indictments contain only allegations against the individual against whom the indictment is sought. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and it will be the government’s burden at trial to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the allegations contained in the indictment.