Social Service Agency Workers Charged in Deadly Fraud Scheme MultiEthnic Behavioral Health, Inc. Charged with Fraud Scheme
Involving Multi-Million Dollar City Contract

PHILADELPHIA—United States Attorney Laurie Magid today announced the filing of a 21-count indictment charging eight employees of a social service agency with defrauding the City of Philadelphia and the federal government by falsely claiming to provide social services to needy families and then billing the City for the services.  A ninth employee is charged with a single count of lying to a federal grand jury. The indictment alleges that the fraud scheme was carried out by employees of MultiEthnic Behavioral Health, Inc. (“MEBH”) and contributed to the death of a 14-year-old girl for whom the City’s Department of Human Services had hired MEBH to provide services. Joining in today’s announcement were Health and Human Services Special Agent-in-Charge Pat Doyle, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk, and Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham.

The indictment alleges 12 counts of wire fraud, six counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation, one count of providing a false statement to federal agents, and one count of perjury before a federal grand jury. Charged in the indictment are MEBH co-founders Mickal Kamuvaka, Solomon Manamela, Earle McNeill, and Manuelita Buenaflor; and MEBH workers Julius Juma Murray, Miriam Coulibaly, Christiana Nimpson, and Sotheary Chan. MEBH worker Patricia Burch is charged with one count of perjury.

From July 2000, through December 2006, the city had a contract with MEBH, paying the company $3,727,190, in total, to provide social services to more than 500 families. The contract was for in-home social services for children at risk of neglect, abuse, and delinquency. According to the indictment, eight of the nine defendants devised and carried out a scheme for billing the city for services when, in fact, services were not rendered. The contract required the workers to visit with family clients of DHS. The indictment alleges that the MEBH workers did not make the required visits and that they, along with the supervisors, falsified records to make it appear as if they had made the visits.

As the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has previously reported, on August 4, 2006, 14-year-old Danieal Kelly, a DHS client that MEBH was supposed to be serving, was found dead in her home.  According to the federal indictment, defendants Kamuvaka and Murray, with the help of other employees, created false records to place in the client file to give the appearance that MEBH had provided services that had not been provided. The indictment further alleges that in the aftermath of the child’s death, supervisors Kamuvaka and Buenaflor ordered certain records to be removed from the client files which were inconsistent with the falsified records, that Buenaflor had a MEBH computer hard drive erased to prevent discovery of the fraud, and that Kamuvaka discarded two trash bags containing records that were the subject of federal grand jury subpoenas. Defendants Kamuvaka, Manamela, McNeill, Buenaflor, Murray, Coulibaly, Nimpson, and Chan are charged with conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation by altering, destroying, concealing, and falsifying records in MEBH files. 

“Simply put, the supervisors and workers created a fiction that they wanted the city to accept as fact,” said Magid. “Because they knew, full well, that the truth would only cut off their source of funding and put an end to an enterprise built on the simple concept of ‘money for nothing’. And when they knew that audits were coming, they intensified their efforts to fabricate records.” 

“Today’s actions will help bring to justice those who allegedly stole from the government while a life was tragically lost through sheer criminal neglect,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Patrick J. Doyle of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Region. “This Federal Agency, working closely with our law enforcement partners, will continue to vigorously pursue allegations that involve the theft of taxpayer dollars.”  

“The defendants charged in this investigation today did not simply defraud the Philadelphia Department of Human Services through their company, they defrauded the innocent victims who were entitled to and in need of vital social services,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk, of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. “The families that were supposed to receive these services suffered greatly because of the greed of these defendants, and as a result Danieal Kelly died of neglect that should have been detected and addressed by this company.”

“We are very grateful that our criminal justice partners took up the MEBH case where our Grand Jury investigation into the unspeakable death of Danieal Kelly left off,” said Abraham. “This indictment, coming on the heels of the conviction of Danieal Kelly's mother, Andrea Kelly on Wednesday, is timely and emphasizes the ease with which fraudsters can rip off the public tax dollars and, at the same time, endanger the lives of children and families placed under their supervision and care.”

Defendant Miriam Coulibaly is also charged with making a false statement to federal agents by lying about her participation in efforts to fabricate records to show visits to families that had not occurred.

INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANTS

If convicted of all charges, defendants Kamuvaka, Manamela, McNeill, and Buenaflor face possible prison sentences ranging from approximately 78 to 97 months under federal sentencing guidelines. Murray, Nimpson, Chan, and Coulibaly face possible prison sentences ranging from approximately 37 to 57 months under federal sentencing guidelines. Defendant Burch faces a possible prison sentence ranging from approximately 15 to 21 months under federal sentencing guidelines.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Bea Witzleben and Vineet Gauri.