GREENBELT, MD—The owner of a Maryland mental health care services provider has been sentenced to three years in prison for submitting false claims to Medicaid for services that were never rendered.

Julius Bakari, 46, of Silver Spring, owned and operated Holy Health Care Services, LLC. The company provided mental health services, including community support, to Medicaid beneficiaries.

Between 2015 and 2021, Bakari and his co-conspirators paid bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries to visit Holy Health for mental health services. Bakari also deliberately shielded himself from clear evidence that his co-conspirators entered false notes into electronic health records for services that were not provided.

Holy Health then billed Medicaid for visits that were never conducted, often targeting beneficiaries who had been recruited to the clinic through kickbacks and bribes. The false claims were submitted for a variety of services, including community support services, which are reimbursed by Medicaid for visits by community support workers who provide rehabilitative and educational support to mental health patients in clinical settings and in the community.

In addition to the prison sentence, Bakari has been ordered to pay $3,343,781 in restitution. The sentencing was imposed on April 9, 2024.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.

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