NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Not one, but two state agencies now confirm they have launched their own investigations following a NewsChannel 5 Investigates report last month.
That investigation raised questions about a life insurance policy that was taken out on a severely disabled man.
Now, the state is asking many of the questions we did about the policy and the people who stood to benefit from it.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked home healthcare operator Kevin Madondo back in February, "Why are you taking out life insurance policies on your clients?"
He never did answer our question.
But now, NewsChannel 5 has learned that the TBI's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit now has what its calling an active and ongoing investigation into the actions of Madondo and his home care company, once known as Warm Hearts, now called Spring Home Care.
TennCare hired the company last year to care for Charles Dowell, who was left seriously disabled by a series of strokes.
But our investigation discovered that after Madondo's company was no longer caring for Dowell, Madondo wound up as a beneficiary of a $9,000 life insurance policy on Dowell, paid for by Madondo.
Dowell's family was shocked.
His daughter, Sheree, told NewsChannel 5 Investigates last month after learning of the policy, "We have never met him a day in our life. He has never called us on the phone. We don't even know who he is period. So why is he paying for a policy? Why was a policy written?"
Meanwhile, the state Department of Commerce and Insurance's Fraud Investigations Division confirms it's now investigating the insurance agent who handled that policy.
Our own investigation raised questions about signatures on the insurance forms. Dowell's daughter insists they were not her father's.
"How do you know?" we asked.
"Because he never signs any papers for hisself. He's not capable of holding an ink pen to sign," she explained.
There was also the question of why the application stated Mr. Dowell is not bedridden, when his family said he clearly is.
Through his attorney, the insurance agent, Joseph Coomer has denied any wrongdoing.
Still, if regulators find he did violate state law, he could lose his license to sell insurance.
Meanwhile, anything that TBI agents discover during their investigation of Kevin Madondo and his company will likely be handed over to the district attorney to determine whether any sort of criminal charges will be filed.
Shortly after our story initially ran, Dowell's family was finally able to get the policy cancelled.
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