Virginia Mental Health Provider Co-Owner Charged in Alleged $49 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme

A Virginia woman has been charged in an alleged $49 million scheme to defraud Virginia Medicaid through billing for mental health crisis services, the Justice Department said. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned an indictment on Oct. 20 against Mikia Antoneice Noble, 37, of North Chesterfield, who was arrested on Oct. 28, according to the department. The department said Noble was co-owner and chief operating officer of Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC (ACE), a Richmond-area mental health provider. According to the indictment, Noble conspired with her co-owner to bill Medicaid for crisis services by teams including licensed professionals when services were provided by a single less qualified worker. The indictment also alleges they paid over $2 million for hotel rooms offered to beneficiaries as inducements, falsified medical records, including adding Noble's signature while she was out of the country, and lied to auditors. From January 2022 through April 2026, Noble allegedly participated in submitting over $49 million in false claims, the department said. She is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud, each carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison. The FBI and the Virginia Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are investigating. An indictment is an allegation, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/561