Montgomery County Man Sentenced to Three Years In Federal Prison For Health Care Fraud Scheme

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Julius Bakari, age 46, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to 3 years in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicaid.

The defendant’s conviction stems from a scheme involving services purportedly provided by Holy Health Care Services, LLC (“Holy Health”), a mental health services provider with locations in Washington, D.C.  Judge Xinis also ordered Bakari to pay restitution in the amount of the loss, $3,343,781.  The sentence was imposed on April 9, 2024.

According to his guilty plea agreement, Holy Health Care Services, LLC (“Holy Health”) was a mental health services provider with locations on North Capitol Street NW (“North Capitol location”) and Martin Luther King Avenue SE (“MLK location”) in Washington D.C.  Bakari, a resident of Maryland, owned and operated Holy Health.

From 2015 to September 2021, Holy Health was an authorized Medicaid provider.  On June 15, 2015, the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Services (“DBH”) certified Holy Health to provide mental health services as a Free Standing Mental Health Clinic.  In 2018, DBH also certified Holy Health as a Mental Health and Rehabilitation Services (“MHRS”) provider.  As a certified MHRS provider, Holy Health had authority to provide and bill for a variety of mental health services including “community support” – a service for which community support workers (“CSWs”) provide rehabilitative and educational support to mental health patients both in clinical settings and in the community. To receive payment from Medicaid for community support services, Holy Health submitted bills for each patient visit with a CSW based on visit notes entered into an electronic healthcare system called the Integrated Care Management System (“ICAMS”).

As part of the conspiracy, Bakari and his co-conspirators paid bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries to induce the beneficiaries to visit Holy Health for mental health services.  Bakari and his co-conspirators caused claims to be submitted by Holy Health to Medicaid for services, including community support services, purportedly provided to Medicaid beneficiaries procured through bribes and kickbacks.

In addition, at minimum, Bakari deliberately shielded himself from clear evidence that his co-conspirators entered false notes into ICAMS for services that were not rendered and were not provided as billed to Medicaid.  Holy Health then billed Medicaid for visits purportedly conducted that did not, in fact, occur for beneficiaries who, in many cases, had been recruited to Holy Health through kickbacks and bribes.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the HHS OIG, and the District of Columbia Office of Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their work in the investigation and the support provided by the District Department of Health Care Finance Division of Program Integrity during the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher M. Sarma and Megan S. McKoy, who are prosecuting the case.