The owner of a Houston-based mental health practice pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud through false claims to Medicare and kickbacks.
From 2007 to 2016, Gwendolyn Gibbs, 72, owner of Daybreak Rehabilitation Center, submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for mental health services that were not provided or not medically necessary totalling $15,447,207 and falsified records to make patients seem sicker than they actually were, according to an April 22 news release from the Justice Department. Ms. Gibbs also paid kickbacks to group home operators and patient recruiters in exchange for referring Medicare patients to her clinic.
Ms. Gibbs was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $8,680,380.42 in restitution to Medicare, according to the release. Her ex-husband, Charles Guidry Jr., a fellow manager of Daybreak, was previously sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years of supervision for his involvement in the scheme.