LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — 4 pastors admitted to bilking taxpayers out of greater than one million {dollars} mixed, the 8 Information Now Investigators have realized. Two of them – a former husband and spouse – averted jail time whereas two others, at present married, await sentencing and face jail time.
The 2 pastors who averted jail time had been concerned in a scheme to steal taxpayer {dollars} and had been sentenced to 5 years of probation after they agreed to plea offers with federal prosecutors in alternate for lighter sentences, courtroom paperwork present. Gregory and Carol Kirby, as soon as married to one another, admitted to mendacity on functions to develop into medical suppliers for Medicaid, and submitting fraudulent medical claims, based on courtroom paperwork.
U.S. District Decide Richard Boulware sentenced Gregory Kirby on Jan. 17. Kirby pleaded responsible to at least one depend of conspiracy to commit an offense towards america final April, based on courtroom paperwork. A plea settlement refers to healthcare fraud from July 2014 to February 2018 to get funds from Medicaid.
U.S. District Decide Andrew Gordon sentenced Carol Kirby on July 31 after she pleaded responsible to the identical cost.
Each Carol and Gregory Kirby had been ordered to pay practically $373,000 in restitution to Nevada Medicaid. The previous couple averted jail time because the cost carries a most penalty of 5 years in jail, together with three years of supervised launch, a $250,000 positive and restitution.
Gregory Kirby admitted to mendacity on an utility to enroll his behavioral well being care firm, Esperanza Household Counseling Companies, LLC, as a medical supplier with Medicaid. Courtroom paperwork say he omitted his legal convictions, together with a 1986 misdemeanor for tampering with a automobile and a 1988 felony for possession of cocaine, the plea settlement states. Gregory Kirby additionally admitted to submitting false Medicaid claims as a way to obtain cost for companies that had been by no means offered, based on the settlement. Gregory Kirby additionally admitted to utilizing greater than $785,000 in unlawful proceeds to buy 5 properties together with two in Decatur, Illinois, in addition to in Las Vegas, Pahrump and Laughlin, Nevada, the settlement states. Kirby agreed to forfeit greater than $388,000 from his financial institution accounts, together with all 5 properties.
In line with a assessment of social media postings, Gregory Kirby seems to run Come Unto Me Ministries in Decatur, Illinois, as “Apostle Kirby,” together with his new spouse, “Elect Lady Kirby.”
In a written letter to Boulware previous to the sentencing, Gregory Kirby requested for forgiveness and mercy.
“I have accepted responsibility for my wrongdoing and doing as you can see have never denied the allegations against me,” Gregory Kirby wrote within the Jan. 13 letter. “I made wrong decisions that have put me before the court and I deserve to be punished.”
Gregory Kirby claimed he was asking for probation not for himself, however for his 11 and 12-year-old sons. His grownup kids, he says, had been “lost in the system” throughout his habit and jail time, however they’re doing nicely now.
Carol Kirby additionally pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit an offense towards america. She admitted to mendacity on the applying to enroll her behavioral well being care firms Apostolic Behavioral Well being and Henderson Household Companies as medical suppliers with Medicaid by omitting Gregory Kirby’s convictions as he was listed because the resident agent of 1 enterprise and the director of the opposite, the plea settlement states. Carol Kirby submitted a false declare to Medicaid for companies that weren’t offered and used greater than $158,000 in unlawful proceeds to help within the buy of a property in Pahrump, Nevada, based on the plea settlement. Carol Kirby agreed to forfeit practically $12,000 in money seized from financial institution accounts and the identical 5 properties as Gregory Kirby.
The opposite two Pastors Regina and Joe Brice, at present married to one another, had been additionally charged within the scheme.
Regina Brice pleaded responsible to at least one depend of healthcare fraud. Regina Brice admitted to executing a scheme and plan to defraud Nevada Medicaid between October 2016 and February 2018, the 8 Information Now Investigators have realized. Regina Brice, based on a plea settlement, omitted her 5 prior misdemeanor convictions together with possession of drug paraphernalia in 1996 and 1997, theft in 1999, and battery and cost for “non-sufficient funds check” in 2009.
That enabled her to enroll Above and Past Behavioral Companies as a medical supplier with Nevada Medicaid after which submit payments for Nevada Medicaid for companies not rendered, based on the plea settlement. Regina Brice used $248,000 in unlawful proceeds she acquired from Medicaid to buy a property in Las Vegas in 2017. Brice agreed to forfeit practically $527,000 of stolen taxpayer {dollars} which had been seized, paperwork state.
‘I’m a girl of God’ Las Vegas pastors accused of stealing over $1 million from healthcare system
Regina Brice is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 28. The utmost sentence she faces is 10 years in jail, plus three years of supervised launch together with a positive. The plea settlement states that attorneys imagine the relevant quantity of restitution is greater than $1.1 million.
Regina and Joe Brice agreed to an interview with the 8 Information Now Investigators in 2020.
“We didn’t do what we’re accused of doing at all,” Regina Brice insisted.
When requested whether or not they had been involved they could possibly be despatched to jail, Regina Brice responded, “It’s not gonna happen. We’re not concerned at all. We serve a righteous God.”
Joe Brice pleaded responsible to financial transactions in criminal-derived property. Joe Brice admitted to devising a scheme to defraud Nevada Medicaid between March 2017 and February 2018, based on a plea settlement. Brice didn’t disclose his earlier convictions on his utility to enroll Possibilities Behavioral Well being Companies, LLC, as a medical supplier. Brice’s legal report consists of 1984 and 1985 felony housebreaking convictions, two misdemeanor convictions in 2008 for possession of medication to not be launched into interstate commerce, and a 2011 misdemeanor conviction for try carry a hid weapon and not using a allow, the plea settlement states.
Joe Brice additionally submitted fraudulent claims for companies by no means rendered, based on the settlement. Federal prosecutors stated he used stolen taxpayer {dollars} to buy a North Las Vegas property and three Peterbilt vans.
Joe Brice agreed to forfeit practically $90,000 and the three Peterbilt vans.
Joe Brice is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 18. The utmost sentence Brice faces is 10 years in jail, plus three years of supervised launch together with a positive. The plea settlement states that attorneys imagine the relevant quantity of restitution is greater than $392,000.
The 8 Information Now Investigators first reported on the healthcare fraud investigation in Feb. 2018. Federal investigators searched companies affiliated with the 4 pastors. The 8 Information Now Investigators uncovered that the defendants had been linked to greater than 20 enterprise entities. Throughout a sermon at God’s Home Worldwide, a church headed by Gregory and Carol Kirby, Gregory Kirby informed church members they need to donate cash.
“The enemy went after the money. We used to do almost everything,” he stated. “We took care of everybody. So now that it’s been seized, it’s your responsibility. It’s time for you to give. It’s time for you to dig deeper now.”
The 8 Information Now Investigators have realized a defendant named Carol Kirby is accused in one other alleged scheme. A grand jury in Maricopa County, Arizona, indicted Kirby for 20 felony prices together with 16 counts of theft, and one depend of conspiracy, unlawful management of an enterprise, illegally conducting an enterprise, and fraudulent schemes and artifices. Kirby, also called Carol Ann Copeland, and two different girls, Shawnjerria Nishallen Lucas, and Lavita Rene Verser, ran A Higher You Wellness Middle, LLC, between December 2021 and February 2023 and submitted fraudulent claims to the Arizona Well being Care Value Containment System to gather funds, based on the Oct. 2, 2023 indictment. A trial is scheduled for Might 8.
To achieve investigative reporter Vanessa Murphy, e mail [email protected].
