A Little Rock psychologist has been indicted for defrauding Medicare and Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Blue Cross) and creating fictitious records to conceal her wrongdoing. Krameelah Banks, 48, of Little Rock, faces twenty-three counts of wire fraud, seven counts of making false statements in connection with healthcare, one count of lying to the FBI, and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, Banks owned and operated Arkansas Behavioral Center (ABC). Although Banks treated some regular patients who received ongoing psychotherapy, most of her patients were referrals who were seen just once for the sole purpose of receiving pre-surgical psychological evaluations. It is alleged that from 2021 through 2023, Banks billed for thousands of hours of psychology services that never took place by routinely charging Medicare and Blue Cross for ongoing psychotherapy in the names of persons who were referral patients seen only once, causing insurers to lose over $500,000.
The indictment alleges that Banks billed for services rendered at ABC while vacationing in Florida and Mexico, Banks billed for more than 24 hours’ worth of services rendered in a single day. The indictment also alleges that Banks billed for over 130 sessions rendered to several patients who had long since died. According to the indictment, Banks responded to inquiries about disputed claims by creating fictitious records and even recycled such entries by providing nearly identical records to Medicare and Blue Cross. The indictment goes on to allege Banks later misled the FBI by blaming any overbilling on her online calendaring software.