CHARLOTTE — Six months after Cedric Dean was released from federal prison, he was already making an impact. Channel 9 did a story on him at Thomasboro Academy.
With then Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden on hand, Dean was handing out certificates for his program that taught character.
Seven years later, Dean is flashier and a mover and shaker who has made a name for himself for being a ride-and-die for his allies and his activism.
But Dean is now the subject of a massive Medicaid fraud investigation. He declined an interview for this story.
Some of the people Dean claimed to help are who federal agents say he took advantage of. Last month, federal agents raided four of Dean’s homes and froze his bank accounts.
Investigators say Dean obtained the homes through conspiracy and healthcare fraud.
The investigation was not a shock to Kacy Farley, a former worker for Dean.
“I knew it was going to be a matter of time,” he said.
After being released from prison on a felony sex offense conviction, Farley worked for Dean. He says he started in maintenance, then began recruiting people in need of help.
“I’d come out here on the streets and talk to people that are homeless, give them a business card with his phone number, tell them, ‘Hey, look, this is an emergency housing thing. You know, we’re trying to help with housing,’” he said. “If you’ve got the right type of Medicaid, then you’re automatically approved.”
Farley says, at the time, he didn’t suspect anything illegal. But during this period, feds say Dean and his associates were executing a healthcare fraud scheme by obtaining Medicaid beneficiairy identification numbers from people in shelters, encampments and halfway houses.
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Dean is accused of billing Medicaid exorbitant amounts for services that he could not realistically provide.
Court documents say his company billed $14.5 million between September 2024 and June 2025 and received $8.9 million back. Investigators claim Dean and his associates used this money to promote the fraud and enrich themselves
Brieuna Jackson and her two daughters once lived in a property that Dean managed. She says in order to live there, she had to turn over all of their Medicaid information.
“This really hurt,” former Dean resident Brieuna Jackson said. “It’s really hurting just because we left in a worse condition than we came in.”
Jackson says she doesn’t know what Dean did with their information but suspects it wasn’t good
“I feel like we were taken advantage of,” she said.
Federal investigators spoke with multiple witnesses, according to court documents.
One witness told them if someone was homeless, they could receive a meal or temporary housing from Dean only if they had and provided information on a certain type of Medicaid for him to bill.
A Medicaid beneficiary told feds that a Dean employee asked if they had Medicaid and for their email address. That person said they gave the information and received a plate of food. Feds say Dean’s company then billed Medicaid $3,200 for Mobile Crisis Management services for that person and got just about all of it back. The individual told their managed care organization that no services were provided and that Dean’s team quote “did nothing but give me a plate of food.”
Shandra Thompson says she lived in one of Dean’s properties and turned over her Medicaid information.
“I trusted him,” she said. “He just left us all hanging.”
She says Dean promised services that neither she nor her children received.
“I was thinking that I was going into a program for a stepping stone to get housing and to get on my feet so I can put a roof over me and my children head,” she said. “But it totally wasn’t like that.”
Thompson, Jackson and other residents may not have suspected anything at the time, but Channel 9 obtained public records showing others did.
In June, the CEO of Alliance Health emailed Charlotte and Mecklenburg County leaders referencing allegations of inappropriate Medicaid billing by Dean. This was months before the FBI investigation would come to light.
“The situation with Cedric Dean Holdings has raised many concerns amongst community partners not only with allegations of inappropriate Medicaid billing and service delivery but with the health and safety of persons and families his organization has engaged with,” Alliance Health CEO Robert Robinson said in the email.
Robinson’s email asked to meet with the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. A spokesperson for the city of Charlotte says there were three follow up meetings.
“Cedric Dean Holdings was previously a provider in the Alliance Health network. His contract was terminated in late May and he has appealed the termination, and we are unable to discuss any details of ongoing litigation,” Doug Fuller, senior director of communications for Alliance Health, told Channel 9 in response to Robinson’s email.
Dozens of people found themselves in a situation like former resident Jackson’s after feds raided Dean’s homes and froze his bank accounts.
Dean’s attorney told Channel 9 that with his money tied up, Dean couldn’t make rent and the landlord kicked them out.
Despite the chaos and investigation, several people Channel 9 spoke with defended Dean’s program
“I want to make it clear that I support Cedric Dean,” tenant Crystal Evans said. “He got me out of a place. I was in depression. I lost my daughter this year.”
“I ain’t got no problem with Cedric or his workers because they have been good to me,” tenant Jonathan Robinson said. “I’m not going to stand up and tell a lie.”
While Dean declined interview requests, he texted Channel 9 Government Reporter Joe Bruno a video that includes people receiving help and interviews with them.
“I just went three whole years. It takes this young man to finally come in my community. I don’t think he’s even been here for two years and here I am going to have somewhere to stay,” a woman says in the video. “Now what have y’all done for us homeless people?”
Farley says this all paints a complicated picture of the ongoing healthcare fraud investigation. Some people who were housed considered it a blessing. This was an opportunity to get off the streets.
But Farley says if Dean profited off their pain he should be held accountable
“He wanted to make a difference,” he said. “I just feel like somewhere down the line he got selfish.”
Innocent people like Thompson and Jackson are dealing with the fallout. They are both living in a shelter with their kids right now.
The FBI is not commenting but says the investigation is ongoing.
VIDEO: FBI seizure part of Medicaid fraud probe involving Cedric Dean
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