Ex-President and CEO of Long Beach Substance Abuse Treatment Provider Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Health Care Fraud

           LOS ANGELES – The former president and chief executive officer of a Long Beach substance abuse treatment provider was sentenced today to 84 months in federal prison for participating in a scheme in which more than $18.5 million in fraudulent claims were submitted to California’s Drug Medi-Cal program for alcohol and drug treatment services for high school and middle school students.

          Richard Mark Ciampa, 67, of Commerce, was sentenced by United States District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, who also ordered him to pay $17,640,325 in restitution. Ciampa pleaded guilty on January 6 to one count of health care fraud.

          Ciampa founded the non-profit Atlantic Recovery Services (ARS), later called Atlantic Health Services, in 1996 and served as its president and CEO until its closure in April 2013 following a suspension in payments. ARS provided substance use disorder treatment services to students at local high schools and middle schools through Medi-Cal and its Drug Medi-Cal program.

          From March 2009 to April 2013, Ciampa participated in a scheme to defraud Medi-Cal in which ARS billed the Drug Medi-Cal program for services to students who did not medically need alcohol or drug treatment. ARS also billed Drug Medi-Cal for group and individual counseling sessions that were not provided or did not meet the requirements for reimbursement as to size, length or setting. ARS employees falsified documents to support the false claims.

          In March 2009, Drug Medi-Cal ordered ARS to repay an overpayment assessed to the organization, which caused a significant amount of financial pressure on Ciampa. Ciampa, in turn, passed along this financial pressure to his employees and threatened the employees that they would lose their jobs with ARS or have their hours reduced to part-time if they did not generate significant billings.

          Ciampa was aware or willfully blind to the fact that, in response to his threats, ARS employees were generating false and fraudulent claims for submission to Drug Medi-Cal. He also encouraged ARS employees to engage in fraud, telling them they should “find a way” to enroll more students in ARS’ program despite Drug Medi-Cal’s medical necessity requirement.

          The scheme was executed in several ways, including ARS counselors and managers maintaining student caseloads by enrolling students in the ARS substance abuse counseling program even if they had used drugs or alcohol only occasionally or even just once.

          For example, in December 2011, ARS fraudulently submitted a claim for Medi-Cal reimbursement for an individual counseling session for a student on November 23, 2011 – a school holiday and the day before Thanksgiving – when the student was absent and the counselor listed on the claim did not provide any counseling.

          In total, $18,530,927 in fraudulent claims were submitted because of the scheme, resulting in an actual loss to Medi-Cal of $17,640,325.

          Prosecutors have obtained a total of 19 guilty pleas in this case and related cases, including former ARS Program Manager Lori Renee Miller, 60, of Lakewood, multiple former ARS managers and counselors, and Dr. Leland Whitson, 81, of Redondo Beach, the former Medical/Clinical Director of ARS who previously pleaded guilty to making a false statement affecting a health care program.

          Gregory Hearns, 65, of Long Beach, the billing supervisor for ARS who compiled the monthly billing and arranged for its submission to Medi-Cal, LaLonnie Egans, 63, of Long Beach, a former manager, and Tina Lynn St. Julian, 57, of Inglewood, a former counselor, are expected to go on trial on January 6. They are charged with multiple counts of health care fraud.

          An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

          The California Department of Justice, Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse; the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter.

          Assistant United States Attorneys Cathy J. Ostiller and Karen E. Escalante of the Major Frauds Section, Nisha Chandran of the General Crimes Section and Victor Rodgers of the Asset Forfeiture Section prosecuted this case.