Houston, TX behavioral counseling business owner charged with health care fraud
March 4th, 2010 - 2:27 am ICT by BNO NewsHOUSTON, TEXAS (BNO NEWS) – The owner of a Houston, Texas behavioral business was charged on Wednesday with 17 counts for a scheme to defraud Medicaid for more than $1 million, prosecutors announced.
Edward Birts, 51, the owner of Courage to Change, is accused of aggravated identity theft for allegedly unlawfully acquiring Medicaid beneficiaries’ information. He used the names, addresses and Medicaid numbers to file false claims through his business. Birts billed Medicaid for therapy sessions and psychiatric counseling that never took place.
Birts also presented himself as a doctor in psychology (PhD) but an investigation revealed that he purchased his title online and the awarded himself several bogus counseling certifications.
The fraudulent scheme began in January 2003 and ended in September 2006. In this period, Birts billed Medicaid for claims of $1,282,466 and received payments totaling $968,583.
The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine if convicted for the conspiracy and each of the 12 health care fraud counts. He also faces a mandatory two-year-term of imprisonment for each of the four counts of aggravated identity theft.
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