Addiction Recovery Care founder Tim Robinson indicted in federal court, resigns
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Addiction Recovery Care
Allegations against Kentucky’s largest drug rehab center, Addiction Recovery Care, claim that it knowingly falsified medical records to collect millions in Medicaid payments.
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Tim Robinson, founder and owner of what was once Kentucky’s largest drug addiction treatment company, was criminally indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
The June 4 indictment, filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky, charges Robinson with attempting to resell millions of dollars worth of tax credits. Robinson “knowingly, and with intent to defraud, devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud and obtain money by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses,” the indictment says.
According to the indictment, Robinson leveraged an initial 2023 tax credit, which was contingent on the sale of Addiction Recovery Care to a separate buyer. When that sale fell through, Robinson “devised a scheme” to “unlawfully enrich himself” by selling those tax credits to a second party expressing interest in buying ARC. In doing so, Robinson misled both buyers, the indictment alleges.
Robinson has resigned as CEO of ARC, Vanessa Keeton, the spokesperson for ARC, said Thursday.
ARC, which at one point operated more than 40 drug treatment centers around the state, has been under FBI investigation for Medicaid fraud since August 2024. The Herald-Leader, in partnership with ProPublica, reported in April firsthand accounts from former ARC employees and clients who said they were told by ARC to falsely bill Medicaid, or witnessed others billing for services that were not actually provided.
Robinson’s attorney, Kent Wicker, said he and his client were surprised to learn an indictment had been placed over a “dispute with some investors that is now pending in a civil courtroom.”
Earlier this year, ARC was sued by two loan companies, including the Bahamian-based Angelica Capital Trust, who allege ARC was illegally keeping more than $3 million the companies were owed in order to “stave off imminent bankruptcy.” They allege ARC was refusing to repay the money in part so the company could repay a preliminary $28 million settlement with the Department of Justice over alleged Medicaid fraud. Thursday’s indictment is related to those loans.
“To be clear, Mr. Robinson did not defraud anyone, did not gain anything from the transaction at issue, and he has done nothing but deliver high quality care for over a decade to thousands of Kentuckians,” Wicker said in an emailed statement to the Herald-Leader. “We look forward to defending this case in court.”
Indictment says Robinson ‘devised scheme’ with tax credits
In 2023, ARC applied for an “employee retention credit,” or ERC loan, as part of an IRS program that offered refundable tax credits to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible employees could claim the ERC on an adjusted employment tax return for one or more calendar year quarters between March 2020 and Jan. 1, 2022, the indictment says.
According to the indictment, ARC sought more than $3.3 million in ERC tax refunds from the IRS in August 2023. In April 2025, ARC sought nearly $3.6 million in ERC tax refunds.
On July 18, 2025, Robinson sold the rights to the first round of credits to a prospective buyer of the company, the indictment says. Under terms of the agreement, the buyer would pay ARC $2.7 million in exchange for the $3.3 million ERC loans, once the IRS cut a check to the company. Robinson signed that sale of agreement.
On July 22, 2025, the buyer wired ARC the agreed amount, but ARC refused to repay the loan amount it had agreed to. In September, Robinson was granted a thirty-day extension to repay that loan and if not, ARC would be required to transfer “all of its rights, title, and interest” to the buyer.
Soon after, Robinson “devised a scheme” to sell the initial employee retention credit amount to a second buyer, the indictment says, and in doing so, “falsely represented” that the $2.7 million in initial tax credits were available to purchase; “Robinson concealed the prior transactions” to the new buyer, according to the indictment.
Over the next few months, until November 2025, Robinson continued “to falsely represent” that the initial tax credits were available to buy, and he “continued to conceal that ARC had already sold the same assets” to the first prospective buyer.
On Nov. 12, 2025, Robinson signed a second sale of agreement with a second buyer, the indictment says. That second buyer agreed to pay ARC another $2.9 million in exchange for those initial credits, which were already promised to the first buyer. Robinson signed the second agreement, securing a purchase advance via wire transfer of more than $4.7 million.
When the IRS paid ARC for both rounds of ERC tax refunds in December 2025, “at Robinson’s direction, ARC spent the ERC funds on other operational costs and debt obligations,” the indictment reads.
Keeton declined to comment further on the case, citing pending litigation. However, she said ARC continues to operate normally.
“All facilities, programs, and services remain open and fully operational,” Keeton said in an emailed statement. “Our leadership team, employees, and clinical staff remain committed to delivering high-quality care and support to the individuals and families we serve.”
Robinson faces 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss, for the wire fraud count. The money-laundering counts each carry up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Editor’s note: This breaking story was updated after publication with additional information.
This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 3:44 PM.
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