Ex-principal accused of $4M fraud

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - The former principal of Springfield’s Brightwood Elementary School has been arrested in Puerto Rico on charges of Medicare Fraud.

The FBI's indictment claims that Yolanda Gomez and her husband Gilberto Gomez, were arrested for allegedly submitting nearly 2,000 false claims to Medicare, worth more than $4 million. The FBI claims the transactions took place between November 2008 and May 2011. The FBI says the suspects were reimbursed almost $2 million for these claims.

Springfield Public School Department's spokesperson Azell Cavaan told 22News that Gomez worked at the school from 1989-2008, and served as the school's principal from 2003 until she retired in 2008. Cavaan says the claims of fraud have nothing to do with Gomez's retirement from the school.

For more information on this case from the Office of the Inspector General, visit their website at oig.hhs.gov/fraud