Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced criminal charges against two healthcare business owners and a conviction against a third provider Wednesday, after the state Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit pieced together a pattern of improper billing totaling more than $1 million in fraudulent claims.
A Statewide Enforcement Push
The three cases fit into President Trump’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown, a coordinated initiative involving federal and state agencies targeting billing abuse in government health programs. In each Montana case, providers either billed Medicaid for care that was never delivered or submitted claims listing a licensed professional who had no involvement in the actual sessions.
Knudsen said his office would not tolerate misuse of taxpayer-funded programs. “At the Montana Department of Justice, we are committed to protecting hardworking Montanans’ money and making sure programs for those in need aren’t a payday for criminals.” Assistant Attorney General Alexandra van Belle is handling the prosecutions.
The Billings Case: Watt
Alison Watt, 55, of Billings and owner of Beautiful Directions Counseling, faces one count each of Medicaid fraud and filing a false claim to a public agency. Investigators concluded she submitted Medicaid billing for counseling sessions that were actually conducted by unauthorized interns rather than by a properly credentialed provider.
Watt’s total submitted claims came to approximately $249,587. Investigators identified roughly $134,042 of that amount as fraudulent reimbursement.
The Great Falls Case: Davenport
Victoria Davenport, 60, of Great Falls faces the most extensive charges of the three. A licensed counselor, she owned and operated Enlightening Minds, The GYST House, and The GYST House 2. Prosecutors charged her with two counts of Medicaid fraud, two counts of filing false claims to a public agency, and a fifth count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Investigators found that Davenport’s name appeared as the treating provider on claims for services that unlicensed staff members actually performed. The evidence tampering count stems from altered documentation she reportedly submitted after learning an investigation had begun. Making the case more striking, records showed 217 claims named Davenport as the treating provider during a stretch of time when she was outside the country.
Her total submitted claims surpassed $2.3 million. The fraudulent portion of Medicaid reimbursements she received is calculated at more than $1.24 million.
The Helena Case: Suydam
Laural Suydam, 46, of Helena has already been convicted of theft connected to fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements. Her case involved a smaller dollar figure — approximately $3,790 in improper payments — and has concluded in the courts, unlike the two cases still moving through the charging process.
What Comes Next
Watt and Davenport are at the charging stage, with cases likely headed toward trial or plea negotiations. No court dates or sentencing details have been announced for either defendant. Any restitution ordered by a court would presumably be tied to the fraudulent reimbursement amounts investigators calculated.
Montana’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit sits within the Department of Justice and focuses exclusively on provider-level misconduct — cases where billing manipulation, use of uncredentialed staff, or fabricated records generate improper payments. The behavioral health sector has proved a recurring area of vulnerability, since verifying exactly who conducted a given session often requires deep documentation reviews rather than routine audits.
The inclusion of Montana’s cases in a nationally coordinated takedown reflects the current administration’s strategy of enlisting state attorneys general in large-scale efforts to identify and prosecute healthcare billing fraud across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.
