Ex-CEO of Long Beach substance abuse program sentenced to 7 years in prison for fraud

The CEO of a Long Beach substance maltreatment attraction programme for younker was sentenced to 7 years successful situation connected Thursday, Sept. 2, aft pleading blameworthy to participating successful an security fraud scheme.

Richard Mark Ciampa, 67, of Commerce, admitted to the scheme successful which fraudulent claims were submitted to the state’s Medi-Cal programme for intoxicant and cause attraction for precocious schoolhouse and mediate schoolhouse students, the Department of Justice said successful a statement.

Ciampa pleaded blameworthy to 1 number of wellness attraction fraud successful January, records show. He was besides ordered to wage $17.6 cardinal successful restitution.

Ciampa’s lawyer did not instantly comment.

Ciampa founded the nonprofit programme successful 1996, which was aboriginal called Atlantic Health Services, erstwhile it closed successful 2013 owed to a suspension successful payments. The nonprofit gave substance usage treatments services to section precocious schoolhouse and mediate schoolhouse students, the Department of Justice said.

Ciampa admitted to being progressive with the scheme, from 2009 to 2013, by billing the Medi-Cal programme for students who did not request treatment. Employees astatine the nonprofit would falsify documents to enactment the mendacious claims.

“The strategy was executed successful respective ways,” officials said, “including (the nonprofit’s) counselors and managers maintaining pupil caseloads by enrolling students successful the substance maltreatment counseling programme adjacent if they had utilized drugs oregon intoxicant lone occasionally oregon adjacent conscionable once.”

In total, determination person been 19 blameworthy pleas successful the lawsuit related to the scheme, the Department of Justice said.