NEW ULM — A 45-year-old Hanska man faces two charges of felony medical assistance fraud and two other felony charges filed in Brown County District Court on March 1.

Lane M. Makela, 13215 110th Street, Hanska was charged with two counts of felony medical assistance fraud, one count for exceeding $35,000 between Aug. 1, 2019 and Jan. 1, 2023, plus felony wrongfully obtaining assistance and felony perjury. A Zoom court hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

According to court documents, Brown County Fraud Investigator Preston Cowing received a fraud referral Oct. 24, 2022 regarding an individual failing to report her business and earnings from a dog kennel she owned, to Brown County Human Services for purposes of receiving medical assistance (MA).

An eligibility specialist notified Cowing the individual was recently charged with tax fraud in Brown County for failing to report all income from her dog breeding business.

The eligibility worker said the family received MA because the business owner failed to report the income received to Brown County Human Services.

In his investigation, Cowing said an individual first applied for MA in Brown County Sept. 18, 2018 and reported the only income for the family was earned by an individual identified as Lane M. Makela for his wages at Tony Downs Foods. His wages were reported as $115,000 annually.

The family was approved for MA as the reported income was under the standard to be eligible for MA at the time. An MA renewal was received July 19, 2019 and the only income was again at Tony Downs for $118,500. The family was determined eligible for MA again as it was below the eligibility standard.

Due to the COVID-19 public emergency, all MA renewals were put on hold starting in March 2020. Families were able to have continued eligibility without completing renewal forms.

Cowing reviewed evidence obtained in the Brown County tax fraud file and noticed that if the actual income received from the dog kennel had been reported on the MA application and renewal forms, Lane Makela’s family would not have been eligible to receive MA. The family would have become ineligible in August 2019 and would not have been eligible for continued eligibility during the COVID-19 public emergency.

Applicants are required to provide all family income and employer-sponsored health insurance at the time of application and renewals.

Gross sales from the dog kennel for 2018 and the first half of 2019 were $54,000. The total gross sales for the last three years were $104,301.42 in 2019; $233,527 in 2020; and $237,431 in 2021.

Cowing interviewed Lane Makela and his wife about the matter. She explained she had started a business selling puppies in 2019, the business took off during COVID and she failed to keep good income and sales tax records for the business and was charged with tax fraud. She took responsibility for her mistakes and pleaded guilty to the charges, saying it was not done on purpose as she was a poor record keeper and made mistakes.

The woman said her dog breeding business was new in 2019 and would not have been able to project annual income when she completed her 2019 renewal.

Cowing noted for the July 2019 MA renewal, the business was established for more than a year and income could have easily been projected. Cowing said the family received $92,453.77 in MA managed care capitation payments paid from Aug. 2019 through January 2023, for which they were not eligible to receive.

Lane Makela admitted to Cowing he was responsible for the MA application and renewal forms and he compiled information when submitting applications and renewals for MA. In addition, Cowing found the MA application and renewal forms indicated they were completed and signed under penalty of perjury.