Former Owners of Florida Substance Abuse Recovery Center’s Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay $4,045,364 in Restitution for Healthcare Fraud

DELRAY BEACH, FL – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has sentenced the owners of Angel’s Recovery - a Delray Beach substance abuse recovery residence - to prison and ordered them to pay $4,045,364 in restitution after a federal investigation found that they had defrauded healthcare benefit programs. The court sentenced Tovah Jasperson and her father, Alan Martin Bostom, to 78 months and 30 months in prison, respectively, and three years of supervised release; and ordered they be jointly responsible for restitution.

Jasperson previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and Bostom pleaded guilty previously to knowingly and willfully falsifying and concealing a material fact in a matter involving healthcare benefit programs.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) found that Jasperson and Bostom had employed their medical director despite knowing the Florida Board of Medicine had suspended his medical license. Jasperson and Bostom allowed him to examine and treat patients; prescribe controlled substances and bodily testing; and create pre-signed prescriptions, which allowed other recovery center employees to provide prescriptions for controlled substances illegally. 

Investigators also found that Jasperson and Bostom paid kickbacks to the owners of other recovery residences in exchange for access to patients, who would generate bills that could be charged to the patients’ insurance companies. Jasperson and Bostom also paid kickbacks to patients, who agreed to reside in the recovery center and participate in the treatment and screening sessions in exchange for free rent and insurance premiums paid on their behalf.

Along with their co-conspirators, Jasperson and Bostom prepared and submitted fraudulent insurance claims attesting that the treatments were reimbursable as medically necessary. The submitted claims failed to acknowledge that the treatments were based on kickbacks and bribes; that some patients failed to pay their required co-payments; and that the medical director had a suspended license, making Angel’s Recovery’s license invalid. 

“Healthcare fraud victimizes the individuals involved and the community at-large,” said Isabel Colon, EBSA Regional Director in Atlanta. “Fraudulently inflating healthcare bills for unnecessary or non-existent treatment passes the costs on to others wishing to obtain health insurance. The U.S. Department of Labor remains committed to ensuring that benefits are not abused, and anyone found guilty of committing fraud is held accountable.”

The investigation was a combined effort of EBSA, the FBI, the IRS, the Amtrak Office of the Inspector General, the Office of Personnel Management-Office of the Inspector General, the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud, the Martin County and Palm Beach sheriff’s departments, and other local police departments.

Employers and workers can reach EBSA toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems related to private sector retirement and health plans. Additional information can be found at https://www.dol/agencies/ebsa.