Lindsay Lohan’s father arrested for alleged ‘patient brokering’ in Florida

Michael Lohan, father to actress Lindsay Lohan, was arrested in Florida on Friday over alleged “patient brokering,” or pointing patients to drug rehabilitation centers where he would receive illegal kickbacks.

Lohan is the most recent of more than 100 people to be arrested on the charges following a Palm Beach County investigation into the drug treatment industry, NBC News reported on Friday.

He was charged with five counts of patient brokering and one count of attempted patient brokering, according to court documents reviewed by NBC.

“Mr. Lohan was investigated by our Sober Homes Task Force and he’s being charged with receiving kickbacks for referring patients to drug treatment,” State Attorney Dave Aronberg reportedly said. “Patient brokering corrupts our health care system because decisions are motivated by greed instead of a patient’s needs. This is our Task Force’s 117th arrest and will not be our last.”

South Florida is reportedly known for attracting thousands of recovering addicts each year due to its volume of recovery centers, according to NBC News. However, some rehabilitation centers have been found to coordinate with operators of sober homes in order to locate patients with good health insurance. The homes then offer the patients free rent or other incentives to convince them to visit certain treatment centers, offering kickbacks to the facilitators.

“This is an entire industry that’s been corrupted by easy money,” Aronberg told NBC in 2017. “Unscrupulous actors have taken advantage of well-intended federal law, and a lack of any good law at the state level, to profit off people at the lowest stages of their lives.”