{"id":15195,"date":"2015-09-02T14:25:30","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T21:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=15195"},"modified":"2015-09-02T14:25:30","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T21:25:30","slug":"eight-indicted-for-submitting-50-million-in-bogus-claims-for-student-substance-abuse-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=15195","title":{"rendered":"Eight Indicted for Submitting $50 Million in Bogus Claims for Student Substance Abuse Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Department<\/a>A federal grand jury indicted eight people for allegedly being involved in a scheme that submitted more than $50 million in fraudulent bills to the state of California for alcohol and drug treatment services, officials said today.<\/p>\n

The money was earmarked for high school and middle school students substance abusers, officials said.\u00a0But, in many instances, officials said these services were not provided or provided to students who did not have substance abuse problems, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

Six of the defendants who worked at the Long Beach-based Atlantic Health Services,<\/strong> \u00a0formerly known as Atlantic Recovery Services<\/strong>, or ARS were arrested today by federal authorities.<\/p>\n

\"State<\/a>The indictment, which charges the defendants with health care fraud and aggravated identity theft, alleges that ARS received more than $46 million from California\u2019s Drug Medi-Cal program<\/strong> after ARS submitted false and fraudulent claims for group and individual substance abuse counseling services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendants named in the indictment are accused of exploiting a program that was set up to help a particularly vulnerable population \u2013 young people who are confronting drug and alcohol abuse,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Adding, \u201cAccording to the indictment, ARS and its employees engaged in a long-running fraud scheme to steal tens of millions of dollars from a program with limited resources that was designed to help underprivileged youth in recovery. In the process, the defendants and ARS branded many innocent young people as substance abusers and addicts in order to boost enrollment numbers and billings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The defendants named in the indictment are the following people:<\/strong><\/p>\n