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Former Battle Creek CEO sentenced for Medicaid fraud; paid $500k to Florida palm reader

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LANSING, Mich. – A Barry County man has been sentenced to 32 months to 10 years in prison for embezzling Medicaid funds to pay for his personal psychic fortuneteller.

The sentence was announced Wednesday by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Ervin Brinker, 69, was the former CEO of Summit Pointe, a Community Mental Health Authority in Battle Creek.  Brinker pleaded guilty as charged in November to two counts of Medicaid Fraud Conspiracy and one count of Embezzlement by a Public Officer.

The Attorney General’s office says that Brinker will also pay $510,000 in restitution to Summit Pointe and a $510,000 civil penalty to the State of Michigan.  Brinker’s scheme diverted funds into two separate accounts to a “health care consultant” in Key West, Florida between May 2011 and November 2012.  The $510,000 went to a Key West psychic palm reader and her husband, according to the Attorney General.