PROVIDENCE – Two top officials of a local addiction treatment organization have been taken into custody Thursday on charges of carrying out what federal law enforcement officials call a “massive” health care fraud scheme.
Michael Brier, 60, CEO of Providence-based Recovery Connections Centers of America Inc., and Mi Ok Bruining, 62, a supervisory counselor for RCCA, were arrested at their homes in Newton, Mass., and Warwick, respectively by the FBI. They, along with RCCA, were charged with heath care fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering and obstruction, allegedly billing health insurers millions of dollars for personal gain instead of helping opioid addiction patients in need.
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RCCA, founded in 2018, has 14 locations within Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including locations in Pawtucket, Attleboro, Dartmouth, Fall River and Taunton. RCCA’s headquarters is on Wickenden Street in Providence. Thursday’s charges were the result of a two-year federal investigation into RCCA and its leadership, which began with billings that did not add up.
U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha, along with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Special Agent in Charge Phillip M. Coyne and FBI Special Agent Joseph R. Bonavolonta on Thursday announced their filing of the charges against RCCA with U.S. District Court. Cunha alleges that RCCA, Brier and Bruining deprived opioid patients of treatment and therapy services they needed, resulting in “millions of dollars” of insurer billing for addiction treatment that Cunha said was “grossly less than claimed.”
The scheme, according to the charges, had billed Medicare, Medicaid and other health care payors for 45-minute counseling sessions. However, Cunha and other federal officials allege that the sessions the patients were part of were no more than 15 minutes. In some instances, there were less than 5-10 minutes, Cunha said.
“Treatment for opioid use disorder has a couple of components. One is potentially medication, but it is also behavioral,” Cunha said Thursday. “It’s also counseling and support. They were supposed to be getting 45 minutes of counseling. Instead, [patients] were getting what we best characterize as a brief check-in.”
As a result of the scheme, Cunha estimates that $15 million in payments were made both federally and privately to RCCA for the treatments that were allegedly substandard. Also, federal law enforcement officials allege Brier used multiple other doctors’ information to prescribe opioid addiction treatment drugs without the doctors’ consent.
Coincidentally, the Better Business Bureau published a “Behind the Business” online profile of Brier and Recovery Connection on Feb. 23. “When I learned that more and more people were dying from overdose deaths each year and there was a shortage of doctors in the addiction field because of the stigma, building a business with a mission became more important than just building a business for money,” Brier was quoted as saying in the profile.
Bonavolonta said the FBI has seized the RCCA building on Wickenden Street, Brier’s Newton, Mass., home – valued at around $2 million – and two luxury vehicles. Federal law enforcement is also looking to seize 13 bank accounts from Brier and Bruining, as well. Brier was also previously convicted in 2013 for federal tax crimes, a conviction that Brier allegedly failed to disclose when submitting an application to Medicare for provider status, law enforcement officials say.
According to a 2013 PBN story on the conviction, Brier – then the owner of a local tax-preparation firm called Refunds Now Inc – was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for under-reporting more than $1 million in income and failing to pay nearly $400,000 in federal taxes.
“We believe this convicted felon, tax evader and CEO [Brier] stole millions of dollars until the proverbial mile-long paper trail and dozens of interviews our investigators obtained exposed him,” Bonavolonta said Thursday.
Cunha said approximately 1,500 patients were impacted by the scheme. Rhode Island patients in need of a new or immediate bridge prescription are urged to call 401-606-5454; Rhode Island patients in need of behavioral health referrals for physicians, counselor, or clinic information may call 401-414-LINK.
In Massachusetts, patients in need of a new or immediate bridge prescription are urged to call 617-414-4175; Massachusetts patients in need of behavioral health referrals for physicians, counselor, or other services may call 800-327-5050 or use helplinema.com.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
