A Massachusetts man is accused of stealing millions of dollars meant to help treat recovering addicts, federal investigators announced Thursday.
Sixty-year-old Michael Brier of Newtown, Massachusetts, is being charged with healthcare fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering and obstruction, WCVB Boston reported. Mi Ok Bruining, 62, and Recovery Connections Centers of America, Inc. are also being charged with healthcare fraud.
Man who ran addiction centers stole millions meant for patient care, feds say https://t.co/zbPhKAPmxK
— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) March 2, 2023
The three are accused of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid of millions of dollars while failing to provide services to addicts in recovery, according to the outlet. They billed Medicare and Medicaid for counseling sessions and treatment that did not actually take place but had been promised to patients at RCCA’s 14 facilities across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, according to authorities.
Brier and RCCA are also accused of submitting a fraudulent Medicare application that did not disclose Brier’s 2013 conviction for tax crimes. (RELATED: Biden’s Reported New Chief Of Staff, Jeff Zients, Linked To Allegations Of Fraud And Questionable Business Practices)
Authorities are seeking to have the defendants forfeit 13 bank accounts, along with a pair of buildings and vehicles reportedly purchased using the fraudulently obtained funds.
“What makes the fraud scheme that we have charged today particularly pernicious – is that not only was this scheme, as we allege, designed to defraud by enriching these defendants with federal and private health care dollars they did not earn, but that in the process, it cheated a vulnerable population of recovery patients out of the full, genuine support and treatment that they need to have a chance at recovery,” U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said at a Thursday press conference.