46 year old Orlando Gillam, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with false claims he submitted to public and private health insurers. He was indicted by a grand jury in April 2019.

According to court documents, Gillam is the founder and CEO of Dunamis Inc. Group Home, a nonprofit that provided services that included alcohol and drug treatment and counseling.

Between January 2016 and January 2018, Gillam falsely billed insurers hundreds of thousands of dollars for alcohol and drug treatment and counseling, mental health treatment, and group and individual psychotherapy purportedly rendered to multiple individuals.

Those individuals did not receive the services billed, and several of them were not Dunamis clients at all.

The conviction is yet another example of how California has become the “Rehab Riviera” of fraudulent treatment centers that seek to exploit California-specific regulations and sometimes-lax oversight in an attempt to cash in on the lucrative industry, despite the potential danger for those the industry is supposed to help.

In California, even someone convicted of fraud or drug dealing or medical malpractice can make money in rehab, often through the vertical integration of insurance payments for urine testing.

Orange County Register investigative journalists found this to be the case in their published expose of the industry some time ago.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincente A. Tennerelli is prosecuting the case.

Gillam is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 20. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $$250,000 fine.