From: drarwingnuttephd@gmail.com   
      
   9 indicted on health care fraud charges, 1 at-large   
   7:40 p.m. EDT October 24, 2014   
   635497623288350581-Baffour-Opoku   
      
   VIRGINIA BEACH -- The FBI is searching for a Virginia Beach man who is wanted   
   on federal charges relating to his role in an alleged scheme to defraud the   
   Virginia Medicaid program.   
      
   Baffour E. Opoku, 48, is the owner and operator of Progressive Counseling   
   Services, LLC, a Virginia Beach based counseling business. He and nine other   
   current and former employees were indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand   
   jury for their alleged roles    
   in the health care fraud scheme.   
      
   The other 9 defendants were arrested Friday and they are currently awaiting   
   further proceedings.   
      
   The defendants are Doretha Selby-Diggs, 40, of Portsmouth, Virginia; Lisa   
   Barrett, 49, of Norfolk; Barbara Bing Banks, 34, of Hampton, Virginia; Corey   
   Etheridge, 42, of Chesapeake, Virginia; Jacqueline Harris, 34, of Portsmouth;   
   Verline Harris, 48, of    
   Virginia Beach; Arlette Johnson, 58, of Virginia Beach; Alfreda Stallion, 52,   
   of Virginia Beach; and Johnny Stallion, 34, of Las Vegas, Nevada.   
      
   The US Attorney's Office released the following information:   
      
   According to the 105 count indictment, the defendants conspired to obtain   
   reimbursement payments from the Virginia Medical Assistance Program by   
   submitting false claims for mental health support services in 2011 and 2012.   
   Opoku owned and operated    
   Progressive Counseling Services, LLC. He hired the other nine defendants to   
   provide mental health support services to Medicaid-eligible clients in the   
   Tidewater area.   
      
   According to the indictment, Opoku, along with an unindicted co-conspirator,   
   created fraudulent assessments of Progressive clients to obtain authorization   
   to bill Medicaid for mental health support services. Once Progressive obtained   
   this authorization,    
   Opoku submitted false and fraudulent Medicaid reimbursement claims on behalf   
   of mental health support services purportedly provided by the co-defendants.   
      
   Progressive Counseling Services, LLC   
   Progressive Counseling Services, LLC(Photo: 13News Now)   
   The indictment alleges these reimbursement claims were bogus because most of   
   the counselors were unqualified to serve as mental health professionals, the   
   counseling sessions never occurred, and progress notes used to document the   
   sessions were fabricated.   
      
   In addition, Opoku faces charges that he failed to report nearly $450,000 in   
   taxable income to the IRS over two tax years and that Opoku, along with   
   Doretha Selby-Diggs and Corey Etheridge, submitted false documents to U.S.   
   Citizenship and Immigration    
   Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security, with respect to a   
   pending immigration matter.   
      
   The indictment further alleges that Lisa Barrett, Barbara Bing, Jacqueline   
   Harris, and Arlette Johnson testified falsely before a federal grand jury that   
   was investigating this matter.   
      
   This case is being investigated by the FBI's Norfolk Field Office; the   
   Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Attorney General's Office;   
   Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the IRS-Criminal Investigations   
   Division; and the Department of Labor,    
   Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations.   
      
   Anyone with information concerning this person is asked to contact the Norfolk   
   FBI office at (757)455-0100.   
      
   http://www.13newsnow.com/story/news/local/virginia/2014/10/24/he   
   lth-care-fraud-charges/17846267/   
      
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