The owners of a south suburban youth counseling center have been indicted on federal charges that accuse them of defrauding the Illinois Medicaid program out of about $4 million.
Laynie Foundation Inc. co-owners Summer Matheson and Terrence Ewing and employee Richard Grundy took part in health care fraud, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, which said they billed the state health program for the poor for more mental health counseling services than the Matteson foundation provided from 2011 to 2018.
They also are accused of seeking Medicaid payments for activities that aren’t reimbursable under the federally funded, state-administered program, including internal case reviews, staff training, clinical supervision and record-keeping.
Matheson also is accused of ordering staff members to falsify patient records to make it appear that a licensed professional reviewed and approved certain services, according to prosecutors, who said that was done in an attempt to cover up the fraud.
Matheson, 41, and Ewing, 57, who live in Dyer, Indiana, each is charged with six counts of health-care fraud, and Matheson also was charged with obstruction of justice. Grundy, 34, a Chicago resident, is charged with five counts of health care fraud.
Illinois and the U.S. government also have a still-ending federal lawsuit against Matheson and Ewing, filed in 2017, that accuses them and the Laynie Foundation of violating the federal False Claims Act by overbilling Medicaid.
