弗吉尼亚州心理健康机构负责人Mikia Noble被控涉4900万美元Medicaid欺诈：被指伪造签名、花逾200万美元租酒店利诱受益人
弗吉尼亚州 North Chesterfield 居民 Mikia Antoneice Noble（37岁）被联邦大陪审团起诉，指控她参与一起针对 Virginia Medicaid（弗吉尼亚州医疗补助计划）的4,900万美元心理健康危机服务欺诈。她于10月28日被捕。起诉书于10月20日由弗吉尼亚东区联邦大陪审团递交。起诉仅为指控，Noble 在被证明有罪之前推定无罪。
据法庭文件，Noble 是 Richmond 地区心理健康服务商 Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC（ACE）的共同所有人兼营运长，她同时自称在 ACE 担任心理健康专业人员。ACE 对外宣称向正经历急性或严重行为健康危机的人提供服务，但检方指控其并未按申报的那样提供服务。
起诉书指控 Noble 与她的共同所有人合谋实施多项造假：向 Virginia Medicaid 申报由包括受训持牌专业人员在内的专业团队提供的危机服务，实际上门服务的却只有单名低层级、资质较低的人员；支付逾200万美元租用酒店房间，利诱 Medicaid 受益人允许 ACE 以其名义申报他们其实并不需要的服务；在医疗记录上添加从未实际参与服务的持牌专业人员的签名；甚至在 Noble 本人不在美国境内期间，仍伪造记录称她本人参与了危机服务；并向进行审计的 Medicaid 管理式医疗组织撒谎。检方称，2022年1月至2026年4月间，Noble 参与向 Virginia Medicaid 提交了逾4,900万美元的虚假欺诈申报。
Noble 被控一项共谋医疗保健欺诈罪与三项医疗保健欺诈罪；若罪名成立，每项罪名最高可判10年监禁。本案由司法部全国欺诈执法司助理司法部长 Colin M. McDonald、弗吉尼亚东区代理首席助理联邦检察官 Theophani K. Stamos 与联邦调查局（FBI）Richmond 外地办事处负责人 Ian Kaufmann 一同宣布。FBI Richmond 外地办事处与弗吉尼亚州总检察长办公室的 Medicaid 欺诈控制部门正在调查此案，司法部欺诈司医疗保健欺诈科出庭律师 Lauren Randell、Zachary H. Ray 与助理联邦检察官 Robert S. Day 负责起诉。
Virginia Mental Health Executive Mikia Noble Charged in $49 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme, Accused of Forged Signatures and Over $2 Million in Hotel Inducements
Mikia Antoneice Noble, 37, of North Chesterfield, Virginia, has been charged in a federal indictment with participating in a $49 million mental health crisis services fraud scheme targeting Virginia Medicaid, and was arrested on October 28. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned the indictment on October 20. An indictment is merely an allegation, and Noble is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
According to court documents, Noble was the co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC (ACE), a mental health provider in the Richmond, Virginia area. In addition to her ownership role, Noble claimed to also work as a mental health professional for ACE. ACE purported to provide mental health services to individuals experiencing acute or significant behavioral health crises but, prosecutors allege, did not provide those services as billed.
As alleged in the indictment, Noble conspired with her co-owner to bill Virginia Medicaid for crisis services purportedly provided by teams of mental health professionals including a trained and licensed professional, which were instead provided only by a single low-level, less qualified mental health professional; to pay over $2 million for hotel room rentals offered to Medicaid beneficiaries to illegally induce them to allow ACE to bill for services they did not actually need; to falsify medical records by adding signatures of licensed professionals who had not actually participated in providing crisis services; to falsify medical records by adding Noble's own signature falsely representing that she had participated in providing crisis services when in fact she was out of the country; and to lie to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations conducting audits of ACE's crisis services. From January 2022 through April 2026, Noble allegedly participated in submitting over $49 million in false and fraudulent claims to Virginia Medicaid.
Noble is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count. Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Ian Kaufmann of the FBI Richmond Field Office made the announcement. The FBI Richmond Field Office and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General are investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Lauren Randell and Zachary H. Ray of the Fraud Division's Health Care Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Day for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于弗吉尼亚州 Richmond 的 Spottswood W. Robinson III 与 Robert R. Merhige, Jr. 联邦法院大楼（弗吉尼亚东区联邦地区法院所在地）。照片：弗吉尼亚东区联邦地区法院发布，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Federal Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia, home of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Photo: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
