A Calhoun County, Michigan health administrator thought a Florida-based “psychic palm reader” could add medical benefits to the community.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says Ervin Brinker hired a Key West psychic for “health consulting” services and sent her two payments totally $510,000.
Brinker is charged with “two counts of Medicaid fraud conspiracy and one count of embezzlement by a public officer” for the payments that allegedly occurred in 2011 and 2012, Mlive reports.
The suspect was CEO of Summit Pointe in Battle Creek, an mental and behavioral health agency that caters to Medicaid recipients and was created by the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners.
The AG accuses Brinker of signing two separate contracts with the psychic “without consulting other employees.”
According to NBC 25, he was fired in February due to the “spending irregularities.”
After the charges were filed, the health agency’s board chairman, Trae Allman said in a statement:
When our Board was informed of employee concerns about irregularities in contracting and expenditures, we engaged Fraser Trebilcock as independent counsel to conduct a careful, external investigation.
What we found through that process increasingly disappointed and alarmed us as a Board, and among a series of other necessary actions, we contacted the appropriate authorities. We are very appreciative of the efforts of the Attorney General…and we are relieved that this difficult chapter is finally over.
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