Suburban Chicago youth center owners sentenced to prison for Medicaid billing scam

CHICAGO - The co-managers of a youth counseling center in Matteson have been sentenced to prison for defrauding Illinois Medicaid out of $2.5 million.

From 2011 to 2018, Summer Matheson and Terrence Ewing, along with an employee, Richard Grundy, used Laynie Foundation Inc. to bill Illinois Medicaid for mental health counseling services that were never provided.

The foundation also sought reimbursement for activities not covered by Medicaid, including internal case reviews, staff training, clinical supervision, and recordkeeping.

Matheson tried hiding the fraudulent activities by telling foundation personnel to backdate and falsify patient records to make it seem like a licensed practitioner had reviewed and approved the services.

As a result, Matheson, Ewing, and Grundy received about $2.5 million from Illinois Medicaid and associated managed-care organizations. Each pleaded guilty last year to a federal health care fraud charge.

Matheson, 46, was sentenced to six years in prison and Ewing, 62, to four and a half years. Grundy, 39, had previously been sentenced to three years and a month.