I am in utter shock....well, not really...well, maybe a little bit because Bill Schuette is on Duty and Brian Calley is dipping into Medicaid fraud in child welfare slush fund to fund his campaign.
It seems the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is operating out of Michigan State University.
Yes, that is correct, boys and girls, we have ourselves a gubernatorial campaign going on in Michigan!
No wonder John Engler hopped his little self with the quickness, for free mind you, to take over the helm of Michigan State University.
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| http://www.msufoundation.org/medc/ |
He was stealin' for his Blackford Capital Fund.
Centria Healthcare, LLC, is one of those Corporate Shape Shifters and seems to be one of those foreign corporations where no one really actually knows from whence it came and is funding political campaigns based upon it false claims to Medicaid in child welfare.
Centria Healthcare, Centira Healthcare L.L.C., Centira Autism Services, or whatever the name of the day is quite the interesting entity because it was funded through a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, so, let us take a look its financial history...
Three very active Michigan governors have contributed to the Michigan miracle. First Gov. John Engler started to monetize the $1 billion Michigan was scheduled to receive from the Tobacco Settlement to invest $50 million a year in grants to fund Life Sciences companies along the so-called Michigan Life Science Corridor, stretching from Kalamazoo, to Grand Rapids, to Lansing, to Ann Arbor, to Detroit.Now, allow me to sum this up.
When Gov. Jennifer Granholm was elected, she took the tobacco money in 2005 and created the 21st Century Jobs Fund, broadening the state’s investment portfolio to include not only Life Sciences, but also Alternative Energy, Advanced Auto Manufacturing and Materials and Homeland Security and Defense. She also created the Venture Michigan Fund, now two fund-of-funds that have $215 million to invest in VC funds that invest in Michigan companies.
Under Gov. Snyder, the state has put added emphasis on the Michigan Growth Capital Partners fund, launched in 2008 as part of the $300 million InvestMichigan! Program. In February 2013, Credit Suisse and its investment partner Beringea announced the launch of Michigan Growth Capital Partners II, a $180 million fund dedicated to providing growth equity to Michigan companies. Since 2008, more than 1,200 deals have been reviewed with investments made in 28 companies that employ more than 5,000 people in Michigan.
They were stealin'.
Engler, Granholm and Snyder used class action lawsuit settlements on behalf of the people of Michigan and made into a slush fund by laundering the money through fancy worded, pretty pictures, to make MCLs as Type III transfers to Pseudo-Public-Private-Partnerships (P4, my new term), for the purposes of approving grants for their own private venture capital investment firms as job creation, making private corporations, of which are foreign entities, as the fiduciary of the 21st Century Jobs Fund.
In the spirit of fuchsia...
How Michigan's largest autism therapy provider lost $8M grant
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| Curtis Moore, Centria whistleblower who was fired. |
Well, that is not good.
Now, new court filings show
the company is suing former employees who've spoken with investigators
and the Free Press, seeking to recoup the money.
This is called retaliation against whistleblowers, which is not good.
This is called retaliation against whistleblowers, which is not good.
The state awarded the job-creation grant in October then suspended it amid the investigation first reported by the Free Press in February.
Job creation? So, let me get this straight. The more kids diagnosed with autism, the more jobs created. Brian Calley participated in setting up data collection to justify this "grant".
Job creation? So, let me get this straight. The more kids diagnosed with autism, the more jobs created. Brian Calley participated in setting up data collection to justify this "grant".
Last month, time ran out for Centria to finalize the contract needed to receive the $8 million.
“The
monies originally earmarked for this project have been released and are
available for other economic development opportunities that may present
themselves,” Otie McKinley, a spokesman for the Michigan Economic
Development Corporation, said in an e-mail to the Free Press.
More: Autism treatment firm lands $8-million state grant, spends big on governor's race
From the article, above:
From the article, above:
Calley, a longtime advocate for autism therapy and the father of an autistic daughter, publicly urged the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to approve Centria's grant request to expand in Michigan. Five weeks later, a key investor and board member of the company hosted a party at his Orchard Lake mansion that formally launched Calley's gubernatorial campaign, the Free Press has learned.About 200 people attended, sipping wine and cocktails and enjoying strolling appetizers from Andiamo's. Guests contributed $106,400 to Calley, campaign financial reports show.The host, Mark Mitchell, was entangled in his own medical fraud case that lasted years, according to federal court records. In 2009, Visiting Physicians Association, a company he owned and ran, agreed to repay the federal government $9.5 million to settle claims of overbilling. (I know this case well, very well - very, very well and it had to do with Medicaid fraud in child welfare, rape, drugging, torture and trafficking of tiny humans, and a kid who died, brought back to life, at least 5 times that I know about, and not one single person has ever been held accountable because the DOJ, HHS OIG and Michigan DHHS & Attorney General did absolutely nothing, still, to this day, about it.)
More: Centria Healthcare accused of fraud, targeting poor in metro Detroit
From the article links, above:
From the article links, above:
- Engaged in a racketeering scheme specifically designed to diagnose children with autism who do not have autism or who do not have autism to the level of diagnosis.
- Forged parent signatures on care contracts or otherwise sign off as the child’s parent in the system for those parents who exhibit broken English.
- Have sought to run a Medicaid fraud scheme in the state of Michigan.
- Are aware that employee files and patient files are stored in unsecured rooms and in employee vehicles and homes.
The
grant was a state effort to keep fast-growing Centria from relocating
to another state. It was contingent on Centria creating 1,200 new jobs
over the next five years.
Work with me here. So, a job creation grant was approved by the secretive Michigan Economic Development Corporation a domestic, for profit, private corporation, which possesses the fiduciary powers over federal funds, can hand out money in dealing with child welfare programs and services, with no obligations as a federal subrecipient?
That sounds like a slush fund.
That sounds like the Detroit Land Bank Community Development Corporation (a DLBA corporate shape shifter) which was a creation of the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority, before they disavowed them.
Work with me here. So, a job creation grant was approved by the secretive Michigan Economic Development Corporation a domestic, for profit, private corporation, which possesses the fiduciary powers over federal funds, can hand out money in dealing with child welfare programs and services, with no obligations as a federal subrecipient?
That sounds like a slush fund.
That sounds like the Detroit Land Bank Community Development Corporation (a DLBA corporate shape shifter) which was a creation of the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority, before they disavowed them.
The Michigan Land Bank is part of the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), which receives administrative services from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The MEDC, a public-private partnership serving as the state's marketing arm and lead agency for business, talent and jobs, focuses on helping grow Michigan's economy. For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit: MichiganAdvantage.org <==another corporate shape shifter
After
the Michigan Economic Development Corporation approves these types of
grants, it allows up to 180-days to finalize a contract with the
recipient. But Centria's deadline expired in April. The company can
reapply for grant money if it remains in good standing at the end of the
investigation.
“Should this project navigate the
application process and come back to the board, it would be evaluated to
determine if the funds would be made available to support this project
moving forward,” McKinley said.
 |
| Vennesa Pawlak, Centria whistleblower who was fired. |
Is this extortion or blackmail? Is this how we "create jobs" in Michigan?
Neither Centria CEO Scott Barry nor a company spokesman responded to requests for comment.
Beginning in November, the Free Press examined thousands of internal and public documents related to Centria. The paper reported in February that former executives had accused the company of fraud, forgery, violating patient privacy and employing unqualified staffers to serve autistic children.
Their
allegations appeared in a letter the company said was sent to human
services agencies across the state. Those allegations were first made
public in December, when Centria's attorneys spelled them out in
pleadings they filed in a defamation suit. The Free Press has
interviewed other former employees not associated with the current
litigation whose allegations echo the defendants.
Last
month, Centria amended its defamation lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit
Court to seek $8 million from the former employees, including the
company’s former chief compliance officer and former senior sales
executive, both of whom reported alleged wrongdoing to state and federal
authorities.
Centria denies all accusations made
by the former employees. It claims that the accusations have smeared the
company and cost it money.
I guess internal investigations were off the table as an option of remedy to the accusations.
I guess internal investigations were off the table as an option of remedy to the accusations.
“Plaintiffs have
suffered damages not less than $8,000,000, harm to reputation, and loss
of esteem and standing in the community in an amount to be determined at
trial,” Centria lawyers wrote in the pleadings.
Centria autism services suck.
Centria autism services suck.
Last
week, a judge threw out the amended complaint on procedural grounds,
though the company can refile it. The underlying defamation lawsuit
continues.
Former chief compliance officer Vanessa
Pawlak, former senior sales executive Curtis Moore, and another former
employee, Samantha Gates, are named in the lawsuit. Their attorney John
Harrington argued in a court filing they did nothing wrong.
“(The
former employees) only reported the fraudulent activities that took
place at Centria Healthcare, LLC., victimizing children suffering from
autism, as a result of the (company's) blatant greed, through Medicaid
fraud and illegal activities, to the appropriate legal authorities,”
Harrington wrote.
“This includes making reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State of Michigan Attorney General’s Office, as well as other government entities.”
I am pretty sure they suck. They are in Hamtramck where English is not the first language of these residents who are desperately impoverished and seeking anything, and I mean anything, when it comes to services for children. Trust me on this one.
More than likely, you had employees who were poorly trained and treated as cheap labor, going above and beyond the call of duty, out their own pockets, knowing fully well that these children were not getting the services they so desperately need.
Boy, this sounds like the uniform standards and practices of the privatized Michigan child welfare system, but hey, what do I know?
“This includes making reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State of Michigan Attorney General’s Office, as well as other government entities.”
I am pretty sure they suck. They are in Hamtramck where English is not the first language of these residents who are desperately impoverished and seeking anything, and I mean anything, when it comes to services for children. Trust me on this one.
More than likely, you had employees who were poorly trained and treated as cheap labor, going above and beyond the call of duty, out their own pockets, knowing fully well that these children were not getting the services they so desperately need.
Boy, this sounds like the uniform standards and practices of the privatized Michigan child welfare system, but hey, what do I know?
Pawlak said Centria's "poor business practices" scuttled the grant.
“Taxpayer
dollars should always be put toward ethical companies in good standing
to maximize the benefits for our citizens, and especially our children,"
she said this week. "To point to any other person or entity for
Centria’s loss is yet another example of Centria’s continued lack of
accountability and reckless disregard for doing the right thing.”
The only problem with this Centria whistleblower argument is that the grant came through a P4, which means it is no longer taxpayer dollars, because it was granted through the Michigan 21st Century Jobs, or what Trust Fund it worked through, which means there were non poor business practices.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is nothing more than a slush fund for political campaigns and personal inurement of people like John Engler and Snyder.
As for Granholm, ask the DNC and the MDP about that one.
Below, is what the Detroit Land Bank Community Development Corporation tried to grow up to be ~ a slush fund for political campaigns and personal investment ventures.
Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©
The only problem with this Centria whistleblower argument is that the grant came through a P4, which means it is no longer taxpayer dollars, because it was granted through the Michigan 21st Century Jobs, or what Trust Fund it worked through, which means there were non poor business practices.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is nothing more than a slush fund for political campaigns and personal inurement of people like John Engler and Snyder.
As for Granholm, ask the DNC and the MDP about that one.
Below, is what the Detroit Land Bank Community Development Corporation tried to grow up to be ~ a slush fund for political campaigns and personal investment ventures.
1 comment:
I was diagnosed with autism around the age of 50, and worked at a subsidiary of BCBSM. I knew right away that Brian Calley's Centria was hiring untrained workers, as there was no way they could find enough skilled and educated workers to fill their positions. What fraud! Of course Medicaid was overbilled by huge amounts, Medicaid is the go-to insurance for the poor and has always been abused by "healthcare" start-ups like Calley's. They profit and resell their healthcare rip-offs. Medicare for All is what we need and have needed for decades. The health insurance industry is out of control, and poor people pay the price. The trust funds and offshore accounts are systemic; corporate tools used as well by BCBSM/UAW/FCA/GM and manipulated by fiduciaries. The BCBSM/UAW retiree medical benefits trust is an example.
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