Ramon Apellaniz, 39, of Middletown, and Suhail Aponte, 38, of Wethersfield, allegedly defrauded the Connecticut Medicaid program through Minds Cornerstone, a company claiming to provide therapy for children with autism, the US Attorney’s Office for Connecticut said.
Authorities allege Apellaniz, using aliases such as “Kristopher Rockefeller,” managed the scheme even while incarcerated. Despite neither being licensed providers, Apellaniz and Aponte submitted false claims for therapy services, including sessions for patients who were hospitalized or never treated at all.
Between November 2021 and December 2024, fraudulent claims drained over $1.8 million from the state. Investigators also revealed Apellaniz used some of the illicit funds to repay restitution tied to a previous healthcare fraud conviction involving his earlier business, The Gemini Project, per the prosecutor's office.
The duo now faces charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud, each carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, federal authorities said.
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