Advocate for troubled teens charged with fraud

Nov. 16--Umar Adeyola is well known for his work with at risk teens.

Now he's the one in trouble with the law -- again.

Adeyola, head of the non-profit HEART Foundation, appeared in Buffalo federal court Wednesday to face allegations that he cheated local health insurers and a California non-profit group out of $365,000.

Charged in a multi-count indictment, he is accused of submitting 4,000 fraudulent claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield, Univera Healthcare and Independent Health over a five-year period starting in 2009.

He also is accused of cheating the Latino Coalition for Faith and Community Leadership in California and its federally-funded program to help adults and high school dropouts prepare for employment.

"There are 48 counts," Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura O'Donnell said of the charges against Adeyola. "It's going to be a complex case."

Adeyola, who is well-known by judges and others for his advocacy on behalf of troubled teens, was released Wednesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring device and limited his travel to Western New York.

This is not Adeyola's first run in with the law.

In 2001, he pleaded guilty to identity theft and admitted obtaining the personal information of General Motors employees in the Town of Tonawanda and using those identities to obtain fraudulent consumer loans. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

Eight years later, Adeyola pleaded guilty again, this time in a case charging him with fraud and making false statements. He was accused of defrauding a local company.

[Related: Funds pulled from city project tied to ex-con]

For Adeyola, the allegations represent a sharp contrast to his reputation as an advocate for at-risk teens and youth diversion programs.

His group, the HEART (Helping Empower At-Risk Teens) Foundation, is closed now but, for years, provided services intended to support young people, many of them in the criminal justice system.

Founded in 2008, HEART provided a "full range of counseling, vocational and supportive services" with the goal of empowering teens to succeed, according to its web site. The group operated out of offices on Kensington Avenue.

Prosecutors say Adeyola's non-profit organization also allowed him to bill local insurers for $228,000 worth of psychotherapy and other types of care that was never provided.

They claim the defendant also cheated the Latino Coalition after the California group received $9 million in federal funding to start a jobs training program.

Adeyola's group provided counseling, mental health therapy and other clinical services to the coalition but, according to prosecutors, fraudulently billed the coalition for $135,000 in expenses.

The charges against Adeyola, which range from health care fraud to theft of government money, are the result of an investigation by the FBI, the U.S. dept of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Dept. of Labor.

Adeyola's defense lawyer declined to comment Wednesday.

In 2011, the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency awarded $2.18 million for a project to build housing for homeless veterans on Buffalo's East Side, a project that was sponsored by the HEART Foundation. The city agency later withdrew support for the project after reporters from The Buffalo News raised questions about Adeyola's background.

___

(c)2016 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)

Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.