Los Angeles “Rehab Mogul” pleads no contest to bilking insurance companies for drug treatment.
Self-described “Rehab Mogul” Christopher Bathum, who in 2018 was convicted of sexually assaulting employees and clients at his substance abuse rehabilitation centers, pleaded no contest Monday to bilking insurance companies of $175 million.
Bathum pleaded in Los Angeles County Superior Court to 14 counts of grand theft, insurance fraud, money laundering and identity theft. He will be sentenced on Feb. 14 and faces as many as 20 years in state prison. At the same hearing, he’ll face sentencing on 31 counts of sexually assaulting seven women at his rehab facilities.
Co-defendant Kirsten Wallace previously was sentenced to 11 years in state prison after she pleaded no contest to 46 felony counts related to the same healthcare billing scheme. The pair was accused of collecting about $44 million out of roughly $175 million in fraudulent insurance claims.
Deputy District Attorney Shaun Gipson said Bathum owned and operated Community Recovery of Los Angeles and other entities in Southern California and Colorado.
Prosecutors said Bathum and Wallace took out insurance policies on clients’ without those clients’ knowledge and billed insurance companies for services that were never provided or needed. The clients were unaware that policies had been taken out on them, said the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.