BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Court documents have revealed details regarding charges against former Fairfax School District Board member Palmer Moland regarding fraudulent Medi-Cal claims.
Inside of court documents, the Kern County District Attorney's Office claims that Moland received charges for the submission of fraudulent Medi-Cal claim forms, as well as for grand theft, on Mon, March 20. Moland was previously arrested for misappropriation of public funds, falsification of election documents, voter fraud, and other related charges after he inappropriately used expenditure funds on Sept 27, 2022.
According to the KCDA's Bureau of Investigation Unit, Kern County Aging and Adult Services filed a complaint of suspected fraud referral. According to a Probable Cause Declaration made by the unit, Aging and Adult Services believed that Moland was "misrepresenting his physical disabilities to obtain IHSS (In-Home Supportive Services) benefits." The unit also suspected Moland's mother of "submitting time sheets for care that Palmer Moland does not appear to need."
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigation Unit discovered that Moland appeared to have full mobility and multiple jobs during the time he was claiming IHSS benefits. He also supposedly told Aging and Adult Services that he had been diagnosed with various illnesses, despite not having them.
According to the unit, Moland began receiving IHSS benefits on June 6, 2018. The last time card that was submitted to IHSS on Moland's behalf was on Sept 15, 2022.
Moland's initial assessment for IHSS was on June 13, 2018. During the assessment, Moland claimed that he had been diagnosed with multiple severe illnesses. According to the IHSS assessment, a condition left him "unable to complete daily tasks." The original assessment also claimed that Moland had limited movement due to back pain and had panic attacks often.
The same assessment claims that Moland said that he had "good and bad days" regarding his illnesses, with bad days occurring two to three days a week. On "bad days," he claimed that he had to use a wheelchair, which he was unable to push on his own. He supposedly also had issues going to the bathroom alone, cooking, and dressing. Meanwhile, on "good days," Moland claimed that he could "assist with grocery shopping" with the use of an electric cart, "transfer himself from his bed or chair," and use the bathroom alone.
Based on the assessment, Moland was granted 24 hours and 17 minutes per week for in-home care through IHSS.
Moland continued to have assessments in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. During these assessments, Moland claimed that one of his illnesses had progressed and that he had a history of strokes that left him "permanently weak."
Court documents claim that he would receive more IHSS hours for in-home care until his assessment on July 13, 2021. Following this assessment, Moland was given fewer hours, as it seemed he was doing better than previously stated and that the assistance he needed was "due to personal preference" rather than need. Moland would file a complaint regarding this on Nov 11, 2021, according to a report.
According to the District Attorney's Office, the Bureau of Investigation Unit discovered multiple instances that contradicted Moland's claimed disabilities. The unit also discovered information on Moland's work history.
Court documents claim that Moland had reported a man to the Kern County Sheriff's Office for violating a restraining order on July 15, 2018. According to the KCSO, Moland said he had "jumped up and ran to the screen door to secure it" before being assaulted. He ultimately "was able to force the door closed to keep the person out."
Moland later made a report to the Bakersfield Police Department regarding a burglary on August 18, 2018. According to court documents, while making the report, Moland claimed that he was a store manager for the Spirit Halloween on Mall View Road. According to the DA's Office, Spirit Halloween Superstores confirmed that Palmer worked for the store between August and September 2018 as a full-time seasonal employee.
Moland had a number of other jobs, according to court documents. He was employed as an instructional aide by the Fairfax School District until Dec 3, 2018. In the same month, he was elected as a board member and trustee for the Fairfax Union School District.
Moland was also employed at the United States Postal Service from Dec 7 to Dec 28 in 2018, as well as from Oct 25 to Dec 27 in 2019, according to The Word Number. The USPS confirmed this, according to court documents. Following his second period of employment at the USPS, Moland submitted a claim for unemployment benefits on Jan 27, 2019. He received payments until Nov 29, 2020 despite working for ride-share service Lyft, however, he did report to the Employment Development Department (EDD) that his last date working for Lyft was on Dec 2, 2019.
It is worth noting that despite Moland's last reported day of working for Lyft being in 2019, Moland made a report to the BPD that the Lyft sign from his car had been stolen on March 10, 2020. He claimed that the sign would cost him $1,500 to replace, as Lyft was "requiring him to provide 196 rides to earn the Lyft sign once again."
The Bureau of Investigation Unit also noted several other times that Moland seemed able-bodied.
According to court documents, former coworkers of Moland's at the Fairfax Union School District claimed that Moland "had no obvious disabilities" and would attend board meetings twice a month, as well as visit school sites with no issue. Moland was seen walking and standing without assistance multiple times in videos of board meetings uploaded to YouTube.
One board member claimed that Moland had assisted him with his campaign and had "walked door to door with him for three hours." The same man claimed that Moland had attended a conference in San Diego with no issues.
Moland also reported another restraining order violation on Oct 26, 2020. According to the BPD, police body camera footage shows that Moland was "able-bodied, able to stand and walk and sit down and stand up from a seated position unassisted, despite Moland's claims. The BPD also said that Moland claimed he had returned from putting up signs for other Fairfax board members before the incident and that he had "wrestled" with the man he had a restraining order against and was thrown to the ground.
Later on, Moland's roommate died from a meth and fentanyl overdose on Jan 10, 2021, according to an Offense Report. When first responders arrived at the scene, Moland was performing CPR on the overdose victim, which was confirmed by police body camera footage. Moland was able to kneel and give compressions without restrictions from pain despite his claimed lack of range of motion. It is also worth noting that Moland claimed to live alone on IHSS paperwork.
Moland made a police report later that year with the KCSO regarding an assault from a neighbor on Nov 30, 2021. Body camera footage shows that Moland was able to walk and stand at the time, according to court documents.
Moland's final IHSS assessment was on Sept 14, 2022. Directly after the assessment, an investigative aide witnessed Moland "standing outside in the parking area unassisted by any sort of walking aid." The same woman later saw him drive a car to another residence, where he was "walking briskly with miscellaneous items in his arms."
Investigators began observing and filming Moland two days later on Sept 16, 2022. During this time, they saw Moland prove multiple times that he was able-bodied. Moland was arrested for unrelated charges regarding campaign funds on Sept 27, 2022. Investigators watched as Moland was able to stand, walk, get in and out of police vehicles, and walk up and down stairs without assistance while handcuffed.
Moland is due to appear in front of a court of law for a readiness hearing unrelated to the Medi-Cal charges on Fri, July 28.
