Healthcare

Therapy Center Owner Accused Of Using Dead Shrink’s Credentials, Committing Medicaid Fraud

Rochelle Hartman, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The owner of a therapy center has been indicted by a Fulton County grand jury over Medicaid fraud and false writing charges, Republican Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced Tuesday.

Desmond Maul, 74, is the owner and operator of Family 360, an outpatient mental health and chemical dependency service provider, according to Carr’s office. Family 360 worked with a Georgia licensed psychiatrist that provided services to the mental health center’s Medicaid members starting in 2018, but the psychiatrist later passed away in 2021.

Maul allegedly continued billing Medicaid for services as if the dead physician directly provided or supervised such services, “including by affixing his name and signature to treatment notes which took place after his death,” according to Carr’s office. This alleged Medicaid fraud enabled Maul to secure more than $88,000 in payments from Georgia’s Medicaid program between August 2021 and September 2023, per the news release.

“When someone takes advantage of a system designed to assist our most vulnerable Georgians, we don’t turn a blind eye. We aggressively investigate and prosecute all those involved and ensure they face justice,” Carr said in a statement. “We will always fight to protect taxpayer dollars and root out fraud and abuse in Georgia’s Medicaid program.”

The indictment comes as the Trump administration has recently touted a “whole-of-government effort to root out” healthcare fraud.The administration notably announced in July that it is deferring over $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota over suspected fraud.

Paragon Health Institute research released in 2025 estimated almost $1.2 trillion in improper federal Medicaid payments, or a 25% improper payment rate, have occurred in the U.S. over the last decade.