New Lenox Man Among 6 Indicted for Alleged $19 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme: U.S. Attorney

CHICAGO — A New Lenox man is one of six people indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly submitting at least $19 million in fraudulent claims to a private insurer for psychotherapy services that were not provided at a suburban Chicago counseling center, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Brenda Copeland, of Country Club Hills, operated All Types Counseling Services, which had offices in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and purportedly provided counseling services for conditions such as depression and addiction. All Types Counseling has offices in Palos Hills and Joliet, according to its website.

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An indictment returned Monday in the Northern District of Illinois alleges that from 2010 to 2025, Copeland schemed with the company's office manager—Samuel Carlson, of Country Club Hills—and four purported patients to submit false and fraudulent claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for nonexistent psychotherapy services. Joseph Iraci, of New Lenox, was fraudulently represented as a patient from 2010 to 2023, according to the indictment.

According to the indictment, the purported patients provided their health insurance information to Copeland and Carlson, who used it to submit the false claims. In turn, Copeland and Carlson gave the "patients" a portion of the payments that BCBS issued to All Types, the indictment states. The purported patients also recruited others to falsely pose as patients in exchange for receiving similar payments from Copeland and Carlson, the indictment alleges.

In all, the defendants submitted and caused the submission of $19 million in fraudulent claims, resulting in the issuance of more than $4.8 million in payments from BCBS to All Types, the indictment states.

Copeland, 64, and Carson, 69 are both charged in the indictment, along with Iraci, 51, of New Lenox, Herbert "Randy" Foster, 59, of Flossmoor, Anthony Gessert, 42, of Oak Lawn, and Henry Saldarriaga-Ochoa, 37, of Berwyn with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Arraignments in federal court have not yet been scheduled.