US District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Julius Bakari, age 46, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to 3 years in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicaid. The defendant’s conviction stems from a scheme involving services purportedly provided by Holy Health Care Services, LLC, a mental health services provider with locations in Washington, DC. Judge Xinis also ordered Bakari to pay restitution in the amount of the loss, $3,343,781.
The sentence was imposed on April 9, 2024. From 2015 to September 2021, Holy Health was an authorized Medicaid provider. On June 15, 2015, the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Services (“DBH”) certified Holy Health to provide mental health services as a Free Standing Mental Health Clinic. In 2018, DBH also certified Holy Health as a Mental Health and Rehabilitation Services (“MHRS”) provider. As a certified MHRS provider, Holy Health had authority to provide and bill for a variety of mental health services including “community support” — a service for which community support workers (“CSWs”) provide rehabilitative and educational support to mental health patients both in clinical settings and in the community. To receive payment from Medicaid for community support services, Holy Health submitted bills for each patient visit with a CSW based on visit notes entered into an electronic healthcare system called the Integrated Care Management System (“ICAMS”).
As part of the conspiracy, Bakari and his co-conspirators paid bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries to induce the beneficiaries to visit Holy Health for mental health services. Bakari and his co-conspirators caused claims to be submitted by Holy Health to Medicaid for services, including community support services, purportedly provided to Medicaid beneficiaries procured through bribes and kickbacks. In addition, at minimum, Bakari deliberately shielded himself from clear evidence that his co-conspirators entered false notes into ICAMS for services that were not rendered and were not provided as billed to Medicaid. Holy Health then billed Medicaid for visits purportedly conducted that did not, in fact, occur for beneficiaries who, in many cases, had been recruited to Holy Health through kickbacks and bribes.
