Virginia Mental Health Professional Charged in $49M Medicaid Fraud Scheme

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned an indictment on Oct. 20 against Mikia Antoneice Noble, 37, of North Chesterfield, Virginia, for a $49 million mental health crisis services fraud scheme targeting Virginia Medicaid. Noble was arrested today.

According to court documents, Noble was the co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC (ACE), a mental health provider in the Richmond, Virginia area. In addition to her ownership role, Noble claimed to also work as a mental health professional for ACE. ACE purported to provide mental health services to individuals experiencing acute or significant behavioral health crises but did not provide those services as billed.

As alleged in the indictment, Noble conspired with her co-owner to:

• Bill Virginia Medicaid for crisis services purportedly provided by teams of mental health professionals including a trained and licensed professional, which were instead provided only by a single low-level, less qualified mental health professional;
• Pay over $2 million for hotel room rentals that were offered to Medicaid beneficiaries to illegally induce that to allow ACE to bill for services purportedly provided to them that they did not actually need;
• Falsify medical records by adding signatures of licensed professionals who had not actually participated in providing crisis services;
• Falsify medical records by adding Noble's own signature falsely representing that she had participated in providing crisis services, when in fact Noble was out of the country; and
• Lie to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations conducting audits of ACE's crisis services.

From January 2022 through April 2026, Noble allegedly participated in submitting over $49 million in false and fraudulent claims to Virginia Medicaid.

Noble is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division; First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Special Agent in Charge Ian Kaufmann of the FBI Richmond Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Richmond Field Office and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Lauren Randell and Zachary H. Ray of the Fraud Division's Health Care Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Day for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The Department of Justice's Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unitLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.