A couple in Minnesota reportedly planned a scheme to deceive medical insurance companies inside their luxurious mansion. They allegedly used the illegally acquired millions to support their lavish way of living.
Elizabeth Brown, aged 42, and Gabriel Luthor, aged 39, appeared to be enjoying a lavish lifestyle in their enormous 9,000-square-foot residence valued at $1.2 million in Eden Prairie. Their home featured high-end vehicles parked within elegant black gates, and extravagant parties that illuminated the evenings.
Their purported scheme unfolded over a six-year period until a police raid, heavily armed, and numerous complaints from neighbors brought about a formal indictment. The charges against the couple included allegations of orchestrating a multi-million dollar fraud.
And authorities claim the romantic pair had the help of his two other live-in girlfriends.
In total, Brown and Luthor ‘submitted hundreds of thousands of false claims to insurers, many of which the insurers paid, resulting in an estimated loss of over $15 million’, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
‘The whole thing, you couldn’t make up,’ Sue Donkersgoed, a resident across the street referred to as ‘the neighborhood mayor’, told KARE 11 News.
Officials say the couple’s criminal plot took root in 2018 while living in Nevada, when they co-founded Golden Victory Medical, LLC (GVM), a company providing medical services.
One of GVM’s primary claimed services was ‘neurofeedback therapy’, where scalp sensors are placed on a patient to monitor brainwaves and assess the impact of mental health treatments.
Elizabeth Brown, 42, and Gabriel Luthor, 39, of Minnesota, were officially indicted for orchestrating a $15 million scheme to defraud medical insurers, using the millions of dollars in illegal funds to bankroll their extravagant lifestyle
With their illicit funds, the couple purchased a sprawling $1.2 million, 9,000-square-foot home on Welters Way in Eden Prairie, with high-end cars tucked behind sleek black gates and wild parties lighting up the night
Although Brown and Luthor were in a relationship, authorities said they had an arrangement allowing Luthor to have relationships with other women – two of whom allegedly lived in the mansion and assisted with the scheme, despite not profiting from it
However, the indictment unsealed on Thursday alleges the couple repeatedly deceived Medicare, Medicaid and other private insurers by misusing medical billing codes meant to reflect legitimate services provided to patients.
The pair allegedly submitted claims using medical codes that didn’t cover the neurofeedback therapy services GVM provided, combined codes that weren’t meant to be used together and exaggerated the duration of services their patients received.
The company’s revenue exploded in 2019 after they opened a brick-and-mortar GVM location in Nevada.
In that year alone, the pair billed more than $16 million to insurers, collecting over $4 million in revenue despite Brown being the company’s sole provider.
According to the indictment, Brown alone billed more than 28,000 patient services in 2019 – averaging more than 76 services a day, including weekends and holidays.
In March of that year, the couple purchased the million-dollar home sitting on five-eighths of an acre in Eden Prairie and relocated to Minnesota, where they were both raised.
Although Brown and Luthor were in a relationship, authorities said they had an arrangement allowing Luthor to have relationships with other women – two of whom, identified as Individual A and Individual B in the court doc, moved into their lavish Minnesota mansion.
As GVM matured and expanded – opening four new offices in 2020 and 2021 – allegedly so did their established method of fraudulent billing.
Neighbors often saw Brown and Luthor cruising around in a fleet of extravagant cars, including a Hummer, Mercedes and Maserati – all funded by their allegedly illicit gains
In total, Brown and Luthor allegedly ‘submitted hundreds of thousands of false claims to insurers, many of which the insurers paid, resulting in an estimated loss of over $15 million’ through Golden Victory Medical, LLC (GVM) – a company they founded that provided medical services
An indictment unsealed on Thursday alleges the couple repeatedly deceived Medicare, Medicaid and other private insurers by misusing medical billing codes meant to reflect legitimate services provided to patients, particularly with their ‘neurofeedback therapy’ service
At least three of Luthor’s girlfriends, all living in the Eden Prairie mansion, allegedly assisted in the scheme – though the couple reaped all the profits, officials say.
However, authorities said each girlfriend had their living expenses and necessities paid for by the couple.
By 2021, insurers began to push back on the couple, denying large portions of their claims over ‘coding issues’. Despite this, Brown and Luthor’s allegedly fraudulent billing practices persisted throughout 2020 and 2021.
The warnings escalated in in 2022, when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services suspended GVM from Medicare, citing bills that they said ‘misrepresented’ the company’s services.
That same year, an outside auditor said they discovered that more than 90 percent of the GVM’s billing codes were improper, branding the company a ‘compliance nightmare’.
Still, the couple pressed on – and are accused of shuffling millions of ill-gotten gains between bank accounts to fund their Great Gatsby-esque lifestyle and other exorbitant living expenses in their costly estate.
According to property records, their mansion featured everything from an indoor basketball court and dry sauna to a four-car garage and eight bathrooms.
Neighbors often saw Brown and Luthor cruising around in a fleet of extravagant cars, including a Hummer, Mercedes and Maserati – all funded by their illicit gains, according to the court document.
The pair allegedly submitted claims using medical codes that didn’t cover the neurofeedback therapy services GVM provided, combined codes that weren’t meant to be used together and exaggerated the duration of services their patients received
In the early hours of a cold January morning in 2023, heavily armed officers descended on the mansion to execute a search warrant tied to a federal investigation led by the US Postal Inspection Service (pictured: Brown)
According to property records, their mansion featured everything from an indoor basketball court and dry sauna to a four-car garage and eight bathrooms
The couple also hosted wild, movie-like parties at their home, much to the frustration of their neighbors.
‘One party there were at least 200 people,’ Donkersgoed, who lives across the street, told KARE 11 News.
However, their high-on-the-hog lifestyle began crashing down by late 2022, when ‘mounting fraud accusations ground GVM’s business to a halt,’ the indictment read.
In the early hours of a cold January morning in 2023, heavily armed officers descended on the mansion to execute a search warrant tied to a federal investigation led by the US Postal Inspection Service, according to Eden Prairie Local News.
GVM ceased doing business and Luthor, Brown and his alleged three other girlfriends fled Minnesota. However, the police investigation ultimately led to the pair being indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy, according to court docs.
A breakdown of their spending, put together by federal authorities, revealed that Luthor allegedly spent $99,000 at Minneapolis strip clubs, $32,000 at Minneapolis restaurants and $5,000 sent to several women on Tinder – all in one month.
Prosecutors said the couple ran the scheme while operating clinics in Nevada, Oklahoma, Kansas and Florida.
‘Minnesota has a fraud problem,’ Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick said in a statement. ‘This case is yet another example of defendants defrauding government programs out of millions.’
A breakdown of their spending, put together by federal authorities, revealed that Luthor allegedly spent $99,000 at Minneapolis strip clubs, $32,000 at Minneapolis restaurants and $5,000 sent to several women on Tinder – all in one month
After the raid, GVM ceased doing business and Luthor, Brown and his three other girlfriends allegedly fled Minnesota
Luthor and Brown are each charged with six counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to the US District Attorney’s Office.
They made their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in the District of Nevada earlier this week and were released on bond.
They are expected to appear in Minnesota court on April 30.
It is unclear if they have entered a plea at this time.
