Chesterfield Mental Health Provider Charged in $49M Medicaid Fraud

TL;DR: A North Chesterfield mental health executive faces federal charges for allegedly submitting over $49 million in fraudulent claims to Virginia Medicaid by billing for crisis services purportedly delivered by teams when a single lower-level professional actually provided them.

The story

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted North Chesterfield resident Mikia Antoneice Noble on October 20 on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud. Noble, 37, serves as co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC (ACE), a Richmond-based mental health provider.

According to the indictment, Noble and her co-owner submitted over $49 million in false and fraudulent claims to Virginia Medicaid between January 2022 and April 2026. The scheme centered on billing Medicaid for mental health crisis services under false pretenses. Prosecutors allege that ACE billed for crisis services purportedly delivered by teams of licensed mental health professionals when in fact a single, lower-level professional actually provided the care. The indictment further alleges that Noble and her co-owner forged signatures of licensed professionals on medical records, falsely indicating that these professionals participated in services they did not provide.

In one instance, the indictment charges that Noble falsified medical records to claim her own participation in crisis services while she was out of the country. Additionally, the scheme allegedly involved ACE spending more than $2 million on hotel rooms for Medicaid beneficiaries to induce them to accept unnecessary services that could then be billed to the program. Prosecutors say the scheme targeted low-income residents, many of whom were homeless, billing Medicaid for services those residents either never received or did not need.

Noble was arrested on October 28, 2026. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each of the four counts. The FBI Richmond Field Office and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General are investigating the case, with prosecution handled by the Department of Justice.

Key players

• Mikia Antoneice Noble: Co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC; defendant
• Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC (ACE): Mental health provider based in Richmond; center of the fraud scheme
• FBI Richmond Field Office: Investigating agency
• Virginia Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit: Investigating agency
• U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of Virginia: Prosecuting authority

Why it matters: The case highlights vulnerability in Medicaid billing oversight, particularly in mental health services where documentation requirements can be complex and beneficiary verification challenging. The scale of the alleged fraud - nearly $50 million extracted from a state health program serving low-income residents - underscores the need for robust audit and compliance mechanisms in Medicaid providers across the region.

Places

• North Chesterfield
• Richmond

Related links

• U.S. Department of Justice press release
• Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

Read the original at Virginia Business →

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice press release: Virginia Mental Health Professional Charged in $49M Medicaid Fraud Scheme
• Virginia Business: Chesterfield mental health provider charged in $49M Medicaid fraud scheme
• Chesterfield Report: North Chesterfield executive charged in alleged $49.6M Medicaid fraud scheme