Maurice Marcell Williams
Introduction
Maurice Marcell Williams, a 48-year-old man from Peoria, Arizona, has been indicted on federal health care fraud and money laundering charges alleging that he fraudulently billed Arizona’s Medicaid agency for more than $33 million in a single year through a behavioral treatment company he owned, then spent the proceeds on property and a luxury vehicle . The charges were announced on September 15, 2026, by United States Attorney Timothy Courchaine at a joint press conference in San Diego . The indictment is an allegation, and Williams is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Background Information
According to the indictment, Williams owned and operated Thinking and Learning Together 2, LLC (TLT), a company that held itself out as a behavioral treatment provider in Phoenix . The billing that prosecutors challenge ran through Arizona’s Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), between May 2022 and May 2023 — a window of about one year in which the indictment alleges Williams billed more than $33 million and AHCCCS paid him approximately $19.7 million on false and fraudulent claims .
The case is one strand of a larger enforcement picture: the release announcing the charges was issued the same month as a related Arizona prosecution in which a clinic owner was sentenced for a $69 million AHCCCS billing fraud that likewise targeted the American Indian Health Care Program, and both cases were announced by the same U.S. Attorney’s office amid a department-wide fraud enforcement push .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted. Williams faces an 11-count federal indictment returned on September 8, 2026. The allegations are unproven, and he has not yet stood trial.
On September 8, 2026, a federal grand jury in Phoenix returned an 11-count indictment against Williams charging health care fraud and money laundering . The indictment alleges that Williams defrauded AHCCCS in two ways: by failing to disclose in his initial AHCCCS application both his ownership of TLT and his prior criminal conviction, and by billing AHCCCS for services that were never rendered .
Prosecutors allege the scheme was aimed with precision at one patient population. Williams is accused of specifically targeting AHCCCS members covered under the American Indian Health Care Program (AIHP), a fee-for-service plan available to Native Americans . The indictment also includes forfeiture allegations seeking two residential properties, a Rolls Royce Cullinan, and brokerage accounts owned by Williams — the assets prosecutors say the scheme paid for .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Courchaine alongside prosecutors from the District of Arizona, with the investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation and substantial assistance from the AHCCCS Office of Inspector General . Assistant U.S. Attorney Aron Ketchel of the District of Arizona’s Phoenix office is handling the prosecution .
The practical consequences so far are the indictment itself and the exposure it creates: a conviction for health care fraud and money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of conviction, and the forfeiture allegations put Williams’ homes, his Rolls Royce Cullinan, and his brokerage accounts directly in play .
Current Status
Williams has been charged but not tried. The 11-count indictment returned September 8, 2026 remains pending, and the release announcing it carries the government’s own framing of what that means: “An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law” . No trial date, plea, or disposition was announced in the release, and the case is docketed as 26-CR-1055-PHX-JJT in the District of Arizona.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Whatever the trial brings, the indictment has already dismantled the business at its center: TLT is identified in federal court records as the vehicle for an alleged $19.7 million fraud, ending any pretense that it operated as a legitimate behavioral treatment provider. Williams faces up to 10 years in prison on each of 11 counts if convicted, and the government has laid claim to the most visible markers of the money it says he took — two residential properties, a Rolls Royce Cullinan, and his brokerage accounts. A prior criminal conviction he is alleged to have concealed from AHCCCS now sits at the center of a federal fraud case instead.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona — “Peoria Man Charged with Defrauding AHCCCS” source