Substance Abuse Counselor Indicted on Health Care Fraud and Identity Theft Offenses
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 05, 2012 |
David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury in Hartford returned a 27-count indictment yesterday charging Alan Emmett Bradley, 57, of Norwalk, Connecticut and Ocoee, Florida, with health care fraud and identity theft offenses.
The indictment alleges that Bradley, a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor, obtained the Medicaid identification numbers of various Medicaid clients and used the identification numbers to submit hundreds of claims to Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. The claims alleged that Bradley performed 75- to 80-minute individual psychotherapy sessions to these Medicaid clients at his office in Norwalk. Hundreds of these counseling sessions did not occur and, for many of them, Bradley was actually living and attending school in Florida.
The Connecticut Medicaid program is a joint federal-state program designed primarily to finance the provision of medical services to the indigent. It is administered in Connecticut by the Department of Social Services and is also supervised by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service.
Bradley was arrested in Florida on May 17, 2012. He has been detained since November 29, 2012, after U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons found that Bradley had violated certain conditions of his pretrial release.
The indictment charges Bradley with 12 counts of health care fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each count, and 12 counts of making false statements relating to health care matters, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years on each count. Bradley is also charged with three counts of aggravated identity theft, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of two years, which must run consecutively to any sentence imposed on any other count of conviction.
U.S. Attorney Fein stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Attorney Fein also acknowledged the substantial assistance provided by Connecticut’s Department of Social Services, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office, and the Norwalk Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Ahearn.
U.S. Attorney Fein encouraged individuals who suspect health care fraud to report it by calling the Health Care Fraud Task Force at 203-777-6311 or 1-800-HHS-TIPS.