Two California residents have been sentenced for defrauding Affordable Care Act programs in at least 12 states of more than $27 million.  63-year old Jeffery White was sentenced to three years in jail and 35-year old Nicholas White was sentenced to 13 months in jail. 

The father and son conspired to defraud health care plans by fraudulently enrolling individuals in ACA plans in states where the individuals did not live by creating phony residential leases using fictitious landlords in various states, including locations in Danbury, Farmington, Hartford and Norwalk.  They also used an app to obtain false cell phone numbers for the individuals with area codes that made it appear they lived at the fictitious addresses, but, the call would ring through to a phone controlled by the Whites. 

The individuals were placed in expensive residential substance abuse treatment programs in California, which paid the Whites thousands of dollars in kickbacks for each referral, and some programs arranged for the Whites to receive a percentage of the money the treatment programs received from the ACA health insurance plans.  In order to maximize their proceeds from the fraud scheme, the Whites enrolled the individuals in ACA plans in states that paid the highest amount for substance abuse treatment, even though the individuals did not live in those states. 

Although the Whites personally profited approximately $1 million through this scheme, they were ordered to pay restitution in the approximate amount of $27,617,000.  Jeffrey and Nicholas White, who are released on bond, are required to report to prison on August 24 and May 5, respectively.