A federal jury found twin sisters E’mon and Armone’ Ambers and Traquan Brown guilty for their roles in a Medicaid fraud plot tied to a Henrico-based mental health agency, involving millions in false claims and illegal kickbacks.
The case centers on Divine Youth Counseling, LLC, where prosecutors say the sisters ran the business and Brown provided counseling while in a relationship with one of them. Court records place the scheme between January 2022 and October 2025, with more than $11 million in claims submitted to Medicaid for services labeled Crisis Stabilization and Mobile Crisis.
Investigators allege the agency billed Medicaid for two professionals providing care when, in reality, only one person was present for many sessions. Those false submissions for what was called “Team Treatment” are blamed for millions in improper payments to the agency.
Prosecutors also say the defendants spent more than $470,000 on hotel rooms as kickbacks to lure Medicaid recipients into using Divine Youth’s services. Those rooms were allegedly used as a financial incentive to steer patients to the agency, a tactic the government describes as knowingly illegal.
E’mon Ambers served as Divine Youth’s Chief Executive Officer and Armone’ Ambers was the Program Director, according to court filings. Brown, described as E’mon’s romantic partner, worked for the agency and is accused of providing counseling services under the fraudulent billing scheme.
All three were convicted on a range of charges: E’mon and Armone’ on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud counts, aggravated identity theft, payment of kickbacks, and transactional money laundering. E’mon faces a mandatory minimum of two years and up to 92 years in prison, while Armone’ faces a mandatory minimum of two years and up to 42 years.
Brown was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud and faces up to ten years behind bars. The trio is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 15, with a separate forfeiture proceeding set for Dec. 14 to sort out assets tied to the alleged crimes.
The government already seized $5,937,156.30 under a federal seizure warrant, and prosecutors identified additional forfeitable items connected to transactional money laundering, including two Mercedes-Benz G-Wagons and a residence purchased in Richmond, Texas. A federal judge will decide final penalties after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutory factors.
The FBI’s Richmond Field Office and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General led the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Day, Janet Jin Ah Lee, and Leighton Watson handling prosecution. Their work culminated in the convictions that federal authorities say show a clear pattern of deception and profit from vulnerable patients.
https://x.com/AAGMcDonald/status/2097724103897805254
This prosecution is tied to the broader national effort announced by the Department of Justice to concentrate resources on fraud enforcement through the National Fraud Enforcement Division, referred to in filings as the ‘Fraud Division’. The Department frames this work as part of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, aiming to root out abuse in federal benefit programs.
