$1M Tax Evasion Scheme Leads To Charges For Essex Co. Mental Health Clinic Owner

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The owner of a chain of mental health clinics in New Jersey faces federal charges of money laundering and defrauding both the Medicaid system and the state, officials announced.

Kwenyan Professional Health Services, LLC and Kwenyan and Associates operated clinics across New Jersey, including in West Orange. The companies operated until October 2021.

Officials said owner Daniel E. Cassell, his wife, and some employees used the Kwenyan name to hide income on tax returns and defraud Medicaid with a phony billing scheme. They also defrauded Progressive Insurance Company, officials said.

Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced that a state grand jury indicted Cassell, 58, of Perkasie, Pennsylvania on charges of first-degree money laundering, second-degree theft by deception, and multiple counts of conspiracy, insurance fraud, and other charges outlined below.

Officials said Cassell and his wife, 37-year-old Bindu Cassell of Perkasie, used the mental health clinics to hide unreported income. They also failed to report "more than $11 million in additional New Jersey-earned income on NJ non-resident income tax returns" from 2016-2018, which resulted in more than $1 million in unpaid tax liabilities, Platkin said. Bindu Cassell was an officer for the Kwenyan entities, Platkin said.

Officials charged them both with second-degree misconduct of a corporate official, and three counts each of third-degree filing a fraudulent return and third-degree failure to pay tax.

Two of Cassell's employees submitted thousands of false claims to Medicaid for mental health services that were never performed, or were billed incorrectly. Carmen C. Ward, 63, of Flemington and Knyckholle Hooke, 47, of Roselle are charged, along with Daniel Cassell, with second-degree conspiracy to commit health care claims fraud, second-degree health care claims fraud, third-degree conspiracy to commit Medicaid Fraud, and third-degree Medicaid Fraud.

Finally, officials say Daniel Cassell conspired with employee John Johnson, 31, of Levittown to get lower insurance premiums through Progressive for Kwenyan's fleet of 20 vans.

Officials say Cassell and Johnson claimed would be garaged in Pennsylvania. In reality, the vehicles were housed in Kwenyan's locations in West Orange, Ewing, Flemington, Phillipsburg, and New Providence, court records show. Cassell and Johnson both face charges of conspiracy and insurance fraud.

The charged crimes took place between January 2015 and October 2021, Platkin said. The Office of the Insurance Fraud Protector began investigating in 2019, he said.

“Individuals who bend and skirt the law to defraud publicly-funded insurance programs and avoid paying their fair share in taxes undermine systems that are vital for the well-being of the public,” said Platkin in a news release. “We will not allow criminals to line their pockets at the expense of the vast majority of law-abiding New Jerseyans who do not illegally enrich themselves.”