Montco Drug Rehab CEO Pleads Guilty In Multi-Million Dollar Fraud

FORT WASHINGTON, PA — The CEO of a drug rehab company that had a center in Fort Washington has pleaded guilty to defrauding millions from individuals with addictions.

Jason Gerner, 46, of Shamong, New Jersey, served as the co-founder and CEO of Liberation Way, which was headquartered in Yardley and also had a center in Bala Cynwyd.

The company billed insurance companies for a wide variety of work which he did not do, according to the US Attorney's Office. He also helped orchestrate what authorities termed an "elaborate kick-back scheme" where he ordered thousands of medically unnecessary urine tests which were sent to Florida laboratories for analysis.

Beyond just swindling insurance companies, federal officials said that patients who sought out treatment at Liberation Way were also shortchanged.

"Medical practices were shoddy and substantive treatment minimal," Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division, said in a statement announcing the guilty plea.

Gerner is just one of 11 people and nine businesses that were charged back in March 2019. Dana Fetterman, 35, of Haddon Township, New Jersey — the brother of the Liberation Way's other co-founder, Dallas Fetterman, who died of a drug overdose in 2017 — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit dealing in proceeds. Several other employees and doctors at Liberation Way, including Michael Sarubbi, Dr. Domenick Braccia, Dr. Ramesh Sarvaiya, and Jesse Peters have pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Gerner pleaded guilty to counts of criminal conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering. Sentencing is set for Jan. 13, 2020.