Delray Beach addiction treatment doctor arrested in $681M fraud case

A Delray Beach doctor who once tried to distance himself from a sober home that federal investigators said preyed on young addicts and scammed insurers out of tens of millions of dollars is now facing charges that he was deeply involved in such schemes at 50 addiction treatment facilities — on a scale that reached $681 million.

In what appears to be the largest such case to date, Dr. Michael J. Ligotti has been arrested and charged with conspiring to commit health care fraud and wire fraud for his alleged role in a nine-year scheme to fraudulently bill for tests and treatments of vulnerable patients seeking a path out of drug and alcohol addiction, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

“As is always the case with any criminal matter, the burden of proof rests entirely with the government. And in this instance, we do not believe the U.S. Department of Justice’s claims — and that is exactly what they are at this point, just one-sided claims — will reconcile with actual evidence at a future trial,” said Ligotti’s attorney Ben Curtis. “Dr. Ligotti thus looks forward to establishing his innocence.”

According to federal documents, Ligotti has been a licensed osteopathic physician since 2003, and two years later, at the age of 31, opened a private clinic at 402 SE 6th Ave. in Delray Beach called Whole Health.

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