ELMENDORF, Texas — A man is facing fraud charges after it was discovered he was out on the road working when he was supposed to be caring for his elderly mother, who sadly died from his neglect, officials say.
Juan Santos Huerta, 52, was originally in jail on a charge for injury to the elderly. He is now facing charges of healthcare fraud after he was accused of swindling the state out of over $63,000 in Medicaid payments by submitting time cards indicating he was caring for his elderly mother in Elmendorf.
He submitted more than 2,300 hours of timecards, saying that time was spent caring for his mom. Instead, investigators found, he was on the road driving trucks for different companies. According to arrest paperwork, this went on for more than four years—from April 2018 until his mother died from neglect on Sept. 4, 2021.
Investigators say the Elmendorf woman was neglected, malnourished, had maggots in exposed wounds and necrosis in her extremities, according to the affidavit.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that he was actually employed by multiple outside trucking firms over the timeframe of the alleged fraud spanning 2018 to 2021. Huerta confirmed with a BCSO officer that he used tokens to call into two healthcare provider companies to "steal time" or falsify hours working as a primary caregiver for his mother while he was on the road employed in the trucking business.
Based on the victim's death and the extensive nature of her wounds and severity of her condition, she experienced an extraordinary level of neglect, and did not receive the personal care services that were allegedly provided by her son, investigators say.
Huerta was charged with healthcare fraud, which is third-degree felony. His bond is set for $15,000. He remains in the Bexar County jail since he was remanded without bond on the original charge of injury to the elderly, for which he was booked earlier this year.
Huerta was found incompetent to stand trial in May on that initial charge. Court records show he was committed for a mental health evaluation on May 4, but records reflect that term was not to exceed 120 days.
The deadline has passed, and Huerta remains jailed.
We asked the district attorney’s office for an update on the status of this case, but they have yet to respond.
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