PHOENIX – Cle’Esther Davenport, 51, of Peoria was charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive and pay kickbacks and receiving kickbacks in connection with a substance abuse treatment scheme.

She is among more than 300 others throughout the country in what the U.S. Department of Justice said this week was a “national health care fraud takedown.”

The indictment alleges Davenport owned a company, Davenport House LLC, that purportedly provided housing to individuals enrolled in health plans funded by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Arizona’s Medicaid program, according to a release from the Arizona district of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Davenport received approximately $739,000 in kickbacks to refer individuals to Tusa Integrated Clinic, LLC, an outpatient treatment center “that purported to provide substance abuse and behavioral health treatment to AHCCCS-insured patients, resulting in improper payments of approximately $1.58 million from AHCCCS to Tusa,” the release stated.

“These criminals didn’t just steal someone else’s money. They stole from you,” Matthew Galeotti, who leads the Justice Department’s criminal division, told reporters this week.

“Every fraudulent claim, every fake billing, every kickback scheme represents money taken directly from the pockets of American taxpayers who fund these essential programs through their hard work and sacrifice.”

We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.