Using $500K in Tax Money for Fortune Teller Doesn't End Well

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LANSING, MI – Palm readers worth the cost of their tea leaves probably could have warned a former Michigan mental health CEO that using taxpayer money to consult psychics and fortune tellers wouldn’t end well.

And it didn’t for Ervin Brinker, who spent more than $500,000 in public money to consult with a Florida couple about the future.

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Brinker, 69,of Delton, was sentenced to 32 months to 10 years in prison by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette, ordered to pay more than $1 million in fines and restitution, and ordered to give up a pension with a current value of $2 million, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Wednesday in a statement.

The $1.02 million Brinker must pay includes both restitution for the $510,000 he spent for psychic services and a $510,000 civil penalty.

Brinker, the former CEO of the Summit Pointe community mental health authority in Battle Creek, pleaded guilty to two counts of Medicare fraud conspiracy and one count of embezzlement by a public officer, Schuette said.

The alleged fraud occurred from May 2011 to November 2012, Schuette said.

As CEO, Brinker had the authority to contractually bind Summit Pointe without board approval, and he signed the fraudulent contracts without consulting other employees, according to court records. Additionally, Brinker did not notify Summit Pointe’s board of directors of the contracts.

When a whistleblower alerted Summit Pointe directors to possible irregularities in contracts and expenses, an independent investigator was hired to conduct an external examination.

Summit Pointe provides mental and behavioral health services to Medicaid consumers in Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, and Van Buren counties.

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