Taleah McKnight, 30, allegedly used multiple aliases to receive treatment for sickle cell anemia, which she did not have, at multiple hospitals in Lancaster County.
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A New Jersey woman has been accused of using multiple false identities to scam two Lancaster County hospitals out of more than $600,000 in medical services over two years.
Taleah Javon McKnight, who also went by the names Abygail Brooks, Chemory Brooks, Taleah Brooks and Leah Osei, allegedly claimed to be suffering from sickle cell anemia.
However, McKnight did not have the disease, according to police.
She is charged with felony counts of theft by deception and theft of services, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed by East Hempfield Township Police.
Authorities claim McKnight, 30, from Carteret, New Jersey, visited Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center in East Hempfield Township in February 2024 using the alias Chemory Brooks. She allegedly presented documentation on her phone indicating she had sickle cell anemia, a blood disorder with no known cure.
“Brooks” claimed in her insurance declaration that she would self-pay for medical services, police said.
According to the complaint, staff at the hospital became suspicious of “Brooks” in March 2024, after she had spent almost a month in the hospital. The medical staff performed a test for the disease, which revealed she did not have it, the complaint states.
Doctors then confronted “Brooks” with the negative test result and asked how she planned to pay for the medical services she had been receiving, police said.
McKnight then presented a New Jersey ID with the name of another alias, “Abygail Brooks,” to apply for Medicaid through the state, according to police. She then signed out of the hospital against the advice of the medical staff.
The state of New Jersey denied McKnight’s Medicaid application after discovering no records of “Abygail Brooks,” according to police. New Jersey health officials told Lancaster Medical Center they would not reimburse the hospital for services rendered.
Hospital officials told police McKnight had received $564,000 in medical services under false pretenses, police said.
The police investigation determined McKnight had employed the scheme at several other hospitals, including UPMC Lititz and Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center.
The treatment provided by UPMC Lititz throughout seven visits cost $62,190, which McKnight has not paid for, according to police.
Police learned that McKnight had created multiple GoFundMe pages soliciting online donations under the alias Taleah McKnight-Brooks.
The investigation determined she is originally from Texas and may have performed similar scams in Oklahoma, according to charging documents.
McKnight is currently not in custody, and police confirmed that an arrest warrant has been issued.