FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A fast-growing, multi-state autism therapy enterprise headquartered in Fort Lauderdale has acknowledged that it is the subject of a sweeping federal investigation concerning its billing practices and corporate operations, even as it maintains that it is cooperating fully with investigators.
ABA Centers of America, a company that experienced a meteoric rise and achieved national prominence in less than six years after its founding in 2020, has been under federal scrutiny since early 2025. The investigation is being led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in New Hampshire, where a federal magistrate previously authorized investigators to examine the electronic communications and emails of founder Christopher M. Barnett and several other high-ranking corporate executives.
An extensive 81-page federal affidavit submitted to a U.S. magistrate judge in New Hampshire to secure access to the Microsoft executive accounts details a range of potential offenses under investigation. According to the court filing, federal agents are probing possible crimes including false statements relating to health matters, wire fraud, healthcare fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and transacting in criminal proceeds. The prosecution team listed in the judicial documents includes attorneys from the fraud section of the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington, D.C., who are collaborating closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Concord, New Hampshire.
Despite the breadth of the ongoing inquiry, representatives for the company emphasize that no formal criminal charges have been filed against any business entity or individual associated with the firm thus far.
"We are aware that the federal government is investigating the company," said Maria Isina Areco, director of public relations for ABA Centers and its parent organization, ICBD Holdings, in an emailed statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "Estamos working with federal investigators and will respond at the appropriate time."
According to the detailed agent affidavit, the core focus of the federal probe centers on allegations of fraudulent billing practices directed at healthcare benefit programs. Investigators allege the firm submitted claims for medically unnecessary services purportedly rendered in the District of Massachusetts, the District of New Hampshire, and other jurisdictions by intentionally misrepresenting the actual place of service, the rendering provider, and the underlying medical necessity of the treatments provided.
Furthermore, the affidavit alleges that the company, operating through an affiliated billing subsidiary, billed for activities that did not qualify as legitimate medical treatment. Examples cited in the court records include billing for periods when a client was sleeping or watching television. Investigators claim these therapy services were provided not according to medical necessity, but rather based on an internal company rating system designed to categorize child and teenage patients according to the potential profits the firm could extract from their respective health insurance policies.
Federal investigators have reportedly interviewed numerous former employees of ABA Centers as well as several patients and their families. Information gathered from these interviews and internal corporate records led investigators to conclude, for instance, that ABA Centers of America routinely billed for therapy services actually delivered in Massachusetts as though they had been provided in New Hampshire. Investigators suggest this geographic misrepresentation was driven by financial incentives, as insurance plans in New Hampshire reimbursed providers at significantly higher rates than comparable plans in Massachusetts.
In addition to scrutinizing the company’s billing methodologies, the affidavit alleges that Barnett utilized the alleged ill-gotten proceeds derived from the fraudulent billing to finance an extravagant lifestyle. Investigators point to luxury vehicle purchases, the acquisition of a corporate jet, and the leasing of a multi-million-dollar waterfront residence in Fort Lauderdale as examples of expenditures supported by corporate funds.
Concurrent Civil Litigation
Alongside the federal criminal investigation, ABA Centers of America is embroiled in high-stakes civil litigation involving major corporate entities and health insurance plans, according to court documents and previously published reports.
Among these legal challenges is a bitter dispute with Publix Super Markets and its corporate health plan, Publix Super Markets, Inc. Group Health Benefits. ABA initially filed a lawsuit against the supermarket chain in a Florida state court, claiming the company was owed millions of dollars in unpaid medical insurance claims. Publix countered by filing a federal lawsuit in the Middle District of Florida, asserting a series of racketeering claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as RICO.
The Publix lawsuit, which seeks approximately $15 million in damages, characterizes ABA Centers as an organization that marketed itself as a premier provider of high-quality autism therapy to families with children on the autism spectrum, while simultaneously generating vast quantities of unjustified and inflated insurance claims.
The litigation involving Publix was transferred in late 2025 to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale and assigned to U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal. In a recent ruling, Judge Singhal permitted the majority of the Publix lawsuit to move forward, allowing six out of nine counts to stand against the healthcare provider and giving attorneys representing ABA from the Greenberg Traurig law firm a court-ordered deadline to respond.
"Before the court is a civil case that could also be brought as a criminal action," Judge Singhal wrote in an order dated August 28. He outlined the core allegations brought by the employer and the insurance plan, noting that the plaintiffs allege the healthcare provider defendants committed insurance fraud by submitting heavily inflated medical bills.
According to the judge’s summary, the plaintiffs asserted that the company intended for insurers to calculate payouts based on these inflated totals, even though the provider never intended to collect significant portions of those billed amounts from the employee plan members who received the underlying treatments. For example, if a bill was submitted for $1,000 for a brief appointment and the plan required the employer to pay 60% and the member to pay 40%, the provider would collect the $600 from the plan and only a negligible amount from the member, while the initial $1,000 figure was allegedly false and designed to maximize employer payouts.
Similar civil litigation is currently active in a Massachusetts state court involving ABA Centers and health insurers Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Point32Health Services. After ABA initially filed suit alleging nonpayment of claims, subsidiaries of Point32 filed an amended counterclaim against ABA Centers and an affiliated entity known as Integrative Healthcare Services. Those insurers are seeking more than $19 million in damages, alleging a far-reaching scheme designed to defraud the companies.
College Walks Away from $55M Pledge
News of the federal criminal investigation first surfaced publicly through a Substack online publishing outlet titled "Reinforcement & Ruin," authored by Samantha Parnham, a certified behavioral health analyst who operates an independent practice in Oregon. Her multi-part series summarized the unfolding federal probe based on public court records, alongside parallel civil lawsuits filed by health insurers. Specialized industry publications, including Behavior Health Business and Acuity Media, subsequently reported on the growing legal and regulatory challenges facing the enterprise.
Despite the federal investigation having been active for over a year, word of the probe apparently did not reach Barnett’s undergraduate alma mater, Temple University in Philadelphia, until early September. The previous year, Temple had proudly accepted a landmark $55 million philanthropic pledge from Barnett intended for its school of public health.
In recognition of what was hailed at the time as the largest gift in the university’s history, Temple temporarily renamed its College of Public Health to the Christopher M. Barnett College of Public Health. However, in a campus-wide letter issued by Temple University President John Fry and Board Chair Mitchell L. Morgan, university leadership announced that the institution and Barnett had mutually agreed to terminate the $55 million commitment announced in October 2025. University officials confirmed that no financial contributions had actually been paid toward the pledge prior to its cancellation, and the building naming rights associated with Barnett were formally rescinded.
In their communication, university leaders noted that Barnett strenuously denied any allegations of wrongdoing and mentioned that he was simultaneously dealing with a serious medical issue. Neither the university nor corporate representatives elaborated further on the status of Barnett’s health or his ongoing operational role within the firm.
A Disruptive Business Model
Founded in 2020, ABA Centers of America experienced rapid financial expansion that propelled it to prominent positions on various corporate growth rankings. In 2024, the enterprise secured the No. 5 spot on the Inc. 5000 list of fast-growing private companies, and last year it ranked No. 25 nationally while claiming the No. 15 position on a Southeast regional list.
Before entering the behavioral healthcare sector, Barnett worked in real estate, leaving the industry during the housing market crash of 2008. Along with his political science degree from Temple University, public biographies note that he earned a law degree from Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida, though he is not listed as an active member of The Florida Bar.
His subsequent ventures in healthcare began from the ground up. According to a profile published in Florida Trend, an earlier venture founded by Barnett called GateHouse Treatment, a behavioral healthcare center located in Nashua, New Hampshire, served as the foundation for ICBD Holdings. This Fort Lauderdale-based holding company ultimately came to control ABA Centers, Curative AI, Exact Billing Solutions, and several other corporate entities from its headquarters at 110 E. Broward Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale.
At its peak, published accounts indicated that ABA Centers employed more than 2,000 individuals across facilities located in over ten states, though recent industry reports have noted corporate layoffs and the closure of several facilities over the past year.
Within the community, Barnett has maintained an active profile supporting youth organizations. Earlier in the year, he was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County Alumni Hall of Fame, having spent part of his youth as a club participant in Lauderhill. In 2024, he was also appointed to the board of directors for the foundations supporting Memorial Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
In its recent statements addressing the scrutiny, corporate leadership described the company’s operational approach as disruptive to the established norms of the healthcare industry.
"We always knew that our business model is disruptive to the status quo and upends current business models for both providers and payors," the company stated. "It is also important to note that this investigation does not appear to be focused on the quality of the care that we provide."
The statement emphasized that the treatment of autism is a fast-growing and rapidly evolving healthcare sector, asserting the company’s ongoing commitment to meeting professional standards, addressing industry waiting lists, and providing individualized, data-driven care. The firm noted that as it has grown, it has increased investments in staff compliance and clinical documentation training.
Centers in South and Central Florida
Public records and corporate announcements indicate that ABA Centers began expanding its physical footprint in Florida under the banner of ABA Centers of Florida starting in 2022, opening an initial location in Port St. Lucie. Subsequent centers were established in Jensen Beach, Tamarac, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Orlando.
The company stated that its facilities have successfully assisted in diagnosing and treating thousands of children on the autism spectrum using established clinical tools and science-backed methodologies. According to the firm, individualized treatment plans establish the specific weekly care required for each client, which are subsequently submitted to healthcare payers for authorization.
"Our care decisions are guided by the treatment plan, which is implemented by a dedicated team of providers," the company statement added. "We present the treatment plan to health care payors for authorization, and we provide care that has been authorized by the payor. Health insurance plans only pay for what has been authorized."
