The owner of a McDuffie County behavioral therapy service faces up to 10 years in federal prison and substantial financial penalties after pleading guilty to submitting fraudulent insurance reimbursement claims. Mira Stallings, 41, of Thomson, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of Healthcare Fraud, said Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, US Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The plea subjects Stallings to a statutory sentence of up to 10 years in prison, payment of restitution and fines, and up to three years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. As described in court documents and testimony, Stallings is a licensed behavioral therapist and owner of ABAscape LLC, a Thomson, Georgia, agency that provided behavioral therapy services to individuals with developmental disabilities.
A parent of patients who received services from ABscape reported concerns about billing discrepancies to TRICARE, the healthcare and insurance program serving active duty servicemembers and their families. The resulting investigation determined that from June 2020 through May 2023, Stallings submitted false and fraudulent billing claims to TRICARE for individual and group therapy services that were not provided, or were not provided as presented. The investigation determined that the fraudulent billing for more than $652,000 resulted in TRICARE payments of more than $572,000.