A federal grand jury indicted Mikia Noble, co-owner and COO of Richmond, Va.-area mental health provider Advancing Communities Everywhere, in an alleged $49 million Virginia Medicaid fraud scheme, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 28 news release.
Ms. Noble, 37, of North Chesterfield, Va., was indicted Oct. 20 in the Eastern District of Virginia. She faces one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and three counts of healthcare fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Advancing Communities Everywhere, known as ACE, claimed to provide crisis services to people experiencing acute behavioral health emergencies. Prosecutors allege that from January 2022 through April 2026, Ms. Noble and her co-owner billed Medicaid for team-based crisis services requiring a licensed professional that a single, less-qualified worker actually delivered.
The indictment also alleges ACE spent more than $2 million on hotel rooms offered to Medicaid beneficiaries as inducements, allowing the company to bill for services those patients did not need.
Ms. Noble is charged with falsifying medical records by adding signatures of licensed professionals who never participated in care, along with her own signature for services delivered while she was out of the country. Prosecutors further allege ACE lied to Medicaid managed care organizations auditing its crisis services.
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