Alleged Scheme to Exploit Medicaid Beneficiaries
Prosecutors say Dean—who is a certified peer support specialist and behavioral health practitioner—used his company to submit fraudulent claims under North Carolina Medicaid’s Peer Support Services and Mobile Crisis Management programs. Of the $8.9 million received, roughly $6.3 million stemmed from Mobile Crisis Management billings alone.
Witnesses who worked for Dean told investigators that he “found people on the street” and offered them food and temporary shelter in exchange for their Medicaid beneficiary information. The complaint alleges that Cedric Dean Holdings staff members routinely collected Medicaid IDs from people in homeless encampments, halfway houses, and hotels, and that they “forcefully demanded” that residents provide such information in exchange for discounted rent—without ever providing treatment or services.
In some instances, prosecutors said the company even paid doctors to misdiagnose individuals “with anything” to justify billing Medicaid.
An analysis of Cedric Dean Holdings’ claims allegedly revealed blatant fraud, including billing for services provided to a deceased patient, and claims showing one employee had supposedly delivered eight hours of crisis management to 24 patients in a single day.
