SANTA ANA, Calif.—Ten substance abuse facility owners and patient recruiters in Orange County were criminally charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Dec. 16, for kickback schemes involving exploiting addiction patients seeking help. For ten months, The Sober Homes Initiative in Southern California, an anti-fraud initiative led by the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, targeted addiction treatment facilities in Orange County. The investigations led to ten criminal charges, of whom four were taken into custody, including three from the county. “Driven by greed, dishonest operators of substance abuse treatment centers have invaded Southern California,” U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said in a statement. The “corrupt individuals,” Wilkison said, targeted vulnerable addicts with generous health insurance benefits and took advantage of the nation’s opioid crisis by fueling what he referred to as a “patient-selling network.” Depending on the patient’s type of insurance, the defendants allegedly …
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