Former NCFLEX insurance chief charged with expense scam

A retired state administrator, indicted last year on charges of taking money improperly from the state employees flexible insurance program, faces a new indictment alleging that he illegally pocketed $195,000 in reimbursements from the program’s private-sector operator.

Chakrapani Tademeti, 67, surrendered Monday at the Wake County Detention Center following his indictment June 7 by a Wake grand jury on charges of obtaining property valued at more than $100,000 by false pretense and larceny of more than $100,000 by an employee.

Both charges involve $195,118 that the indictment alleges Tademeti got from P&A Administrative Service, the Buffalo, N.Y.,-based company that receives claims and makes payments for the NCFLEX program. The indictment cites a period from May 5, 2012, to March 28, 2015.

In that time, the indictment charged, Tademeti gave P&A reimbursement forms for money he said he’d spent on travel, rent, electronic equipment and other expenses.

However, the grand jury charged, the money was for “goods and services” for which Tademeti “had not spent said monies, ... had already received reimbursement” or were unrelated to the NCFLEX program. The last category, the indictment stated, “were expended for the personal benefit of the defendant.”

The new charges grew out of an ongoing State Bureau of Investigation probe that resulted in Tademeti’s indictment in October 2015 on charges of taking almost $250,000 from the program.

NCFLEX lets state employees set aside pretax money for specific purposes that include uninsured medical costs and daycare for dependents.

Tademeti, of 200 Tecumseh Court in Raleigh, was the state’s administrator for the NCFLEX program. The SBI said he retired from the Office of State Human Resources last year.

The 2015 indictment alleged that Tademeti had vendors who dealt with the flex program send money to him instead of to the state.

After Tademeti’s 2015 indictment, a legislative oversight committee called for an investigative audit of the flex program. The state personnel director told legislators that an internal review prompted officials to ask the SBI to investigate.

Tademeti, according to public records, had a salary of $98,304 in 2014 and was paid a total of $100,505, which included his seniority supplement.

Tademeti surrendered at the jail shortly after 9 a.m. Monday and was released after meeting his bail obligations. He is scheduled to appear in court June 27.

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Former NCFLEX insurance chief charged with expense scam."