Three Michigan residents have been charged with Medicaid fraud over a mileage reimbursement program intended for taking patients to medical appointments, the Michigan Attorney General's office said. 

Ashley Eliza Mendoza, 34, of Detroit, is facing five counts of Medicaid fraud-false claim; Bernice Marie Pate, 51, of Inkster, is charged with 10 counts of Medicaid fraud-false claim; and Wanda Rose Spivey, 55, of Taylor, is facing five counts of Medicaid fraud-false claim. 

The three were arraigned in recent days in 54-B District Court in East Lansing, state prosecutors said: 

The investigation involved claims for medical mileage reimbursements under the Michigan Medicaid program, Attorney General Dana Nessel's office said. In some cases, a smartphone app tracks mileage through the phone's GPS connections. After a trip is recorded, reimbursement is placed on a payment card that can be used like any debit card. 

The attorney general's office alleges that the three participated in a scheme to trick a phone into indicating a false location, and submitted reimbursement requests for trips that never took place." 

Each of the charges is a four-year felony. All three were issued $50,000 personal recognizance bonds, court records show. The probable cause conference on the cases is set for Oct. 17 in the district court, with a preliminary exam on Oct. 23. 

The Michigan Attorney General's Health Care Fraud Division, which gets most of its budget through federal grant money and the remainder through state funds, handled this investigation.