Ex-aide pleads no contest

Advertiser Staff

Susan Puapuaga, the first person charged with medical assistance fraud in connection with the state's providing services to special needs students under the Felix consent decree, pleaded no contest yesterday in her false-billings case.

Attorney General Earl Anzai, who brought the charges, said "the investigation is accelerating and the department is actively pursuing more than two dozen cases on O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands."

Puapuaga, a therapeutic aide, pleaded no contest to 10 counts involving false billings for work not done for Ala Kai Na Keiki, an organization providing service under the federal consent decree. She faces sentencing in October.