Two women have been arrested and charged in connection with a scheme to defraud the Medicaid program by impersonating a licensed nurse and assaulting a disabled individual. Karen Wurst, age 71, of Raleigh, North Carolina, and owner of NurseSpan, LLC, was charged on December 22, 2025 with Health Insurance Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Health Insurance Fraud, Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, Identity Theft in the First Degree, Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft in the First Degree, 18 counts of Violation of Licensing Requirements, and 18 counts of Conspiracy to Commit Violation of Licensing Requirements. Suzean Langan, age 48, of Manchester, was charged on January 12, 2026 with Assault in the First Degree of a Disabled Person, Health Insurance Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Health Insurance Fraud, Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, Identity Theft in the First Degree, Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft in the First Degree, 18 counts of Violation of Licensing Requirements, and 18 counts of Conspiracy to Commit Violation of Licensing Requirements.
Authorities allege that the defendants conspired to misrepresent nursing qualifications, placing patients at significant risk. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Wurst ran a nursing staffing agency, called NurseSpan, LLC, located in West Hartford, which hires nurses and aides to supplement staff at certain facilities around the state of Connecticut. While running NurseSpan, LLC, Wurst used the nursing identification number of a nurse, without that nurse’s permission, to fabricate the credentials of Langan, who made herself out to be a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) from June 2022 to March 2023. Langan was then sent to multiple facilities, 18 in total, identifying herself and acting as a LPN, even though she did not attend nursing school, was never trained, and never obtained a nursing license. Langan’s behavior included medicine administration and care for medically complex and fragile individuals and completion of medical records. Wurst then billed the facilities $133,682.75 for Medicaid qualified services. In one instance, investigators said Langan performed a medical procedure on a Medicaid recipient involving the operation of a gastronomy tube (G-tube), a device that delivers fluids and medication directly into the patient’s stomach. During this unauthorized procedure, the patient suffered severe complications, including choking, vomiting, loss of consciousness, and aspiration pneumonia.