§ 5-55-107 - Restitution.
5-55-107. Restitution.
(a) In addition to any other fine that may be levied under 5-4-201, any person found guilty of medicaid fraud as described in this subchapter is required to:
(1) Make full restitution to the Department of Health and Human Services; and
(2) (A) Pay a mandatory fine in the amount of three (3) times the amount of all payments judicially found to have been illegally received from the Arkansas Medicaid Program or its fiscal agents.
(B) The mandatory fine shall be credited to the general revenues of the State of Arkansas.
(b) (1) In addition to any other fine mandated by this subchapter or that may be levied under 5-4-201, any person found guilty of medicaid fraud as described in this subchapter may be required to pay a fine into the State Treasury in any amount up to three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each claim judicially found to be fraudulently submitted to the Arkansas Medicaid Program or its fiscal agents.
(2) A fine under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall be credited to the general revenues of the State of Arkansas.
(c) For prosecutions brought under this chapter, the following provisions apply:
(1) To enable the court to properly fix the amount of restitution, the prosecuting attorney after appropriate investigation, shall recommend an amount that would make the Arkansas Medicaid Program whole with respect to the money fraudulently received from the Arkansas Medicaid Program, including the expense of investigation and all other measurable monetary damages directly related to the offense;
(2) If the defendant disagrees with the recommendation of the prosecuting attorney, he or she is entitled to introduce evidence in mitigation of the amount recommended; and
(3) The monetary judgment for restitution, as provided in this subchapter, becomes a judgment against the offender and has the same force and effect as any other civil judgment recorded in this state.
(d) (1) The Attorney General has concurrent jurisdiction and authority with the prosecuting attorney to collect all fines and amounts of restitution levied pursuant to any criminal violation of this subchapter in the manner provided by 5-4-204, with interest accruing on any amount of restitution to be made and any fine to be paid from and after default in the payment of the restitution or fine in the manner provided in 16-65-114.
(2) However, this subsection is not in any way intended to affect the contempt power of any court.