Gov. Ned Lamont voiced support for Deidre Gifford, Connecticut’s Commissioner of Health Strategy, on Monday and said he “wouldn’t jump to any conclusions” about her role in the cancellation of a 2020 audit of suspected Medicaid fraud at a Bristol optometry practice.
Konstantinos Diamantis, Lamont’s former state deputy budget director, was charged Friday with accepting $95,000 in bribes in return for pressuring several state officials to cancel an audit for Helen Zervas, the owner of Family Eye Care and the fiancée of former state Democratic lawmaker Christopher Ziogas, who was also charged.
The criminal complaint leveled against Diamantis and Ziogas did not mention Gifford or any other state official by name.
But the document stated that Diamantis leaned on an employee at the state Office of Policy and Management and the commissioner of the Department of Social Services to “indirectly” pressure the director of the Medicaid audit division to abandon the scheduled review of Zervas and her medical billing practices.
Gifford, who served as the DSS commissioner from mid-2019 to late 2022, on Friday declined to comment about the federal criminal investigation or the allegations in the indictment.
Meanwhile, Lamont insisted Monday that it was premature to conclude anything about the actions that Gifford took before the audit was canceled.
“I haven’t heard any of that. I know that Justice was looking into Diamantis. I think they want to talk to some of our commissioners to see what that relationship would be. Maybe you’ve jumped to conclusions as to why they want to do that,” Lamont said during a press conference in the Capitol.
“I think Deidre does a heck of a job. I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions against her,” Lamont added.
The governor’s office declined to say whether Lamont had read the indictment against Diamantis after returning from a trip to India last week.
The charges against Diamantis and emails reviewed by The Connecticut Mirror show that Gifford was informed about the decision to end the audit before it was canceled in May 2020.
John McCormick, who ran DSS’s audit division during that time, sent an email to Gifford on May 12, 2020, explaining how Zervas would voluntarily repay nearly $600,000 to the state Medicaid program and in return McCormick’s team would discard the audit.
“Commissioner, Good morning,” McCormick wrote. “As per below, I have proposed to accept a lump sum payment of $599,810. We will cancel the open audit and the provider will have a billing consultant review weekly billings for one year. Please let me know if you have any questions.”
It’s unclear if Gifford ever responded to McCormick’s email or followed up with McCormick.
Zervas was not the only provider to voluntarily return Medicaid overpayments to the state, but hers was the only open audit canceled because of such payments.
The state’s decision to drop the audit of Family Eye Care was also noteworthy, according to prosecutors, because McCormick and his team had already voiced suspicions that Zervas was guilty of defrauding the state’s Medicaid system.
The indictment quotes an unnamed public official who supervised DSS’s Office of Quality Assurance as stating the Zervas audit was “looking like a fraud case.”
At the time, the person who held that position was McCormick.
The email from McCormick is not the only evidence to suggest Gifford was aware of Diamantis’ plan to end the scheduled Medicaid audit.
Messages between Diamantis and Zervas, who pleaded guilty to Medicaid and Medicare fraud last month, also mention Diamantis’ discussions with someone he referred to as “the commissioner” in May 2020.
“I will tell you what the commissioner said to me about my ‘friend’ when we talk,” Diamantis said, while allegedly negotiating a third bribe payment from Zervas. “Anyways, I hope you are sleeping well now.”
Lamont said he and Gifford have not discussed whether she was called before the federal grand jury to testify about her interactions with Diamantis, who has also been accused of extorting school construction contractors.
But the governor insisted that his administration would continue to cooperate with federal authorities, no matter where the investigation leads.
“I’ll tell you what we are going to do. What we do every time: leave no stone unturned,” Lamont said.
“We got Diamantis out of there within weeks when I found out about the first problem he had,” Lamont added. “We are working closely with Justice. If there is anybody else involved, we’ll be there.”