Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit arrested a woman in East Baton Rouge Parish on March 31 for allegedly defrauding the Louisiana Medicaid program of more than $68,000.
The arrest concerns allegations that public funds intended for healthcare were misused over a three-year period. This case highlights ongoing efforts by state authorities to address and prevent fraudulent activity within Louisiana’s Medicaid system.
According to the Attorney General’s office, Mylanta Denise Cephus was taken into custody without incident and charged with one count of filing or maintaining false public records and three counts of Medicaid fraud, all felonies. Cephus is a former caretaker who worked at Caregiver Homes of Louisiana DBA Careforth in Baton Rouge. She is accused of submitting daily activity logs documenting care she claimed to provide between May 1, 2023, and September 18, 2025; investigators allege these services were not performed but were billed to the state program instead. The total amount allegedly billed fraudulently was $68,486.73.
Cephus was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison; bond information has not been released. The investigation remains ongoing. The Attorney General’s office reminds the public that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Louisiana Department of Justice serves as the primary legal office for the state under an independently elected attorney general according to its official website. Liz Murrill leads this department as attorney general according to its official website, providing legal resources statewide according to its official website and focusing on protecting constitutional rights according to its official website. The department also works to preserve Louisiana’s culture and heritage through legal efforts according to its official website, and has challenged federal overreach in more than 35 cases under Murrill’s leadership according to its official website.
The press release notes that funding for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit comes primarily from a federal grant totaling $9,147,916 for fiscal year 2024-25 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; an additional $3,049,304 is provided by Louisiana.