Dangerous Addiction Treatment Scam

5 charged in $11.7 million Southern California addiction treatment fraud scheme.

By TERI SFORZA | tsforza@scng.com and TONY SAAVEDRA | tsaavedra@scng.com | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: June 19, 2020 at 6:48 p.m. | UPDATED: June 19, 2020 at 10:25 p.m.

Five more men have been charged in connection with a scheme that lured vulnerable drug users to Southern California with promises of free addiction treatment, fraudulently signed them up for private insurance, and then generated $60 million in billings that resulted in insurance payouts of $11.7 million. 

Charged with multiple felonies, including insurance fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, were Jeremy Ryan, 42, of Orange; Daniel Reaman, 41, of Mount Rainier, Maryland; Richard Roberts, 61, of Stockton; Reiner Nusbaum, 54, of San Clemente; and Michael Castanon, 56, of San Juan Capistrano.

“With no regard for the substance abuse patients who wanted and needed treatment, this ring trafficked and used them to steal from insurance companies to line their own pockets,” state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a prepared statement.

The scheme involved 441 patients from all over the country who were trafficked into 19 different treatment centers, according to the joint investigation by the California Department of Insurance and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

“These schemes target and exploit vulnerable people at a time when they need help the most,”….. Link to Full Article