SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A U.S. Justice Department investigation of kickback schemes at substance abuse treatment facilities in Orange County has led to criminal charges against 10 defendants this year, the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The charges resulted from what prosecutors dubbed “The Sober Homes Initiative,” the office said Thursday.
The office said defendants in the 10 case are substance abuse facility owners and patient recruiters, and the alleged schemes involved kickback payments for the referral of patients to treatment facilities, recovery homes or laboratories.
“These facility owners allegedly assigned a value to patients depending on the type of insurance the patients had, and then paid patient recruiters kickbacks for each patient the recruiters referred to their addiction treatment facilities,” the office said.
Payments were allegedly made for each month a patient received purported services.
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“While many recovery facilities offer much-needed services to addicts, those targeted in this sweep take advantage of our nation’s opioid crisis by fueling a patient-selling network more interested in generating profits than giving help to vulnerable people,” said U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison.
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