Dad pocketed $124K of insurance money meant for son’s autism treatment, officials say
A father faces charges in Wisconsin after prosecutors say he pocketed nearly $125,000 in insurance money that was intended to pay for his son’s autism treatment.
Alper Kolcu, 39, faces one count of theft from a business and one count of bail jumping, according to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. Jail records show he was booked into the Milwaukee jail on Monday, Sept. 26.
Investigators said in a criminal complaint that Kolcu was the medical insurance holder for his child, who “received specialized therapy due to autism from the provider InBloom Autism Services.”
Kolcu had a “pay to patient arrangement” with Anthem Insurance, meaning they would pay him for the treatments, and he would be required to send the payments to InBloom.
From September 2020 to July 2022, Kolcu received 71 checks from Anthem that totaled $124,975.31, according to prosecutors. InBloom did not receive any payments from Kolcu, despite a review of one of the checks including the language, “You likely visited a doctor or facility not in your plan. If you have not paid them yet, you should use this check to pay them right away,” according to the criminal complaint.
Prosecutors said Kolcu deposited the checks into his PNC Bank account, and he “intentionally retained possession of the money.” He is accused of making “frequent withdrawals” from the account.
“InBloom did not consent to Kolcu retaining possession of this money,” prosecutors said in the criminal complaint. “Kolcu retained this money with the intent to convert to his own use. This is showed by his refusal to return the money upon demand by InBloom.”
If convicted of his theft charge, Kolcu faces up to 12 years, six months in jail and a fine of $25,000.
