Victim Advisory- Divine Youth Case Updates

CASE NAME: United States v. E'mon Ambers, et al., Crim. No. 3:26-cr-24; United States v. T'Aisya Squire, Crim. No. 3:26-cr-11

COURT: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division

CASE SUMMARY: In January and February 2026, charges were filed against four defendants who allegedly operated a scheme to defraud Medicaid through a mental health agency known as Divine Youth Counseling, LLC.

On February 17, 2026, defendants E'mon Ambers, Armone' Ambers, and TraQuan Brown were charged in a 12-count criminal indictment in Criminal Case No. 3:26-cr-24. Count One of the indictment charges the three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349; Counts Two through Four charge health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347; Counts Five through Seven charge aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A; Counts Eight and Nine charge payment of illegal kickbacks, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(2)(B); Counts Ten through Twelve charge transactional money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957.

On Jan. 22, 2026, defendant T'Aisya Squire was charged in a single-count criminal information in Criminal Case No. 3:26-cr-11 with making false statements relating to health care matters, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1035(a)(2).

E'mon Ambers, Armone' Ambers, Brown, and Squire each worked at Divine Youth and allegedly participated in the same scheme. According to court documents, between January 2022 and October 2025, Divine Youth submitted more than $11 million in fraudulent claims to Medicaid for mental health services known as Crisis Stabilization and Mobile Crisis. The scheme had two primary components.

The coconspirators allegedly falsely claimed that two mental health professionals simultaneously provided services to Medicaid recipients, when in truth, at most a single mental health professional was present for the service. The false claims that two professionals provided "Team Treatment" services caused millions of dollars of loss to Medicaid.

The coconspirators allegedly paid more than $470,000 in illegal kickbacks in the form of purchasing hotel rooms for Medicaid recipients. The coconspirators allegedly used the hotel rooms to incentivize recipients to obtain Medicaid services from Divine Youth, a practice the coconspirators knew and understood was wrong and unlawful.

Additional aspects of the scheme are set forth in the charging documents.

CASE STATUS: In United States v. E'mon Ambers, et al., Crim. No. 3:26-cr-24, the case is currently scheduled for a jury trial to begin on May 4, 2026. In United States v. T'Aisya Squire, Crim. No. 3:26-cr-11, Squire is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on March 16, 2026.

VICTIM RESPONSE: To ensure that members of the public, including potential victims of the alleged fraud scheme perpetrated through Divine Youth, are informed of developments in this ongoing case, the U.S. Attorney's Office has established a page on its website, available at the following link:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/united-states-v-emon-ambers-et-al-crim-no-326-cr-24-united-states-v-taisya-squire-crim-no

The website currently includes a copy of the indictment and other pleadings filed in the cases. Victims with questions can call 1-866-DOJ-4YOU (1-866-365-4968) (TDD/TTY:1-866-228-4619; International 1-502-213-2767) and reference the above case names and docket numbers. Victim impact statements can be emailed to EDVA Victim Witness, or mailed to:

U.S. Attorney's Office
Attn: Victim Witness
919 E Main St, Suite 1900
Richmond, VA 23219

Contact

Victim/Witness Coordinator
United States Attorney's Office
919 E Main St, Suite 1900
Richmond, VA 23219
(804)-819-7429
[email protected]