Ex-felon charged in $4.75 million Medicare fraud scheme, DOJ says

Farmington Hills man Emory Matthews, 62, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan and arrested on charges of conspiring to defraud Medicare through a scheme involving psychotherapy sessions that were never provided, according to the Justice Department.

Matthews served as a managing employee and administrator of New Beginnings Adult Center Inc., an adult day care center owned by his wife, Yolanda Matthews, according to court documents and evidence presented in court. Matthews was previously convicted of soliciting and receiving illegal health care kickbacks and bribes tied to his earlier operation of the center, a conviction that resulted in his exclusion from billing Medicare.

According to the indictment, Emory and Yolanda Matthews submitted false and fraudulent claims for individual and group psychotherapy services that were never provided. Prosecutors allege the couple billed Medicare for services purportedly rendered to beneficiaries who were hospitalized at the time and, in some cases, for services supposedly provided to beneficiaries who had already died. The indictment further alleges that the couple used the names of former employees on false claims and concealed Emory Matthews’ Medicare exclusion by failing to disclose his role as a managing employee, as required.

From January 2020 through June 2025, Matthews allegedly participated in submitting more than $4.75 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, according to the Justice Department. Yolanda Matthews pleaded guilty on July 27, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Emory Matthews is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, FBI Detroit Field Office Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan, and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ethridge announced the charges. The FBI Detroit Field Office and HHS-OIG investigated the case, and Trial Attorney Jeffrey A. Crapko of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section is prosecuting it.

The Justice Department also noted that its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. The department announced the creation of its Fraud Division on April 7 and said its efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide initiative chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.