Copyright Hartford Courant
The operator of a Newington-based counseling business who had pleaded guilty in connection with a scheme that defrauded the Connecticut Medicaid program of more than $1.8 million, has been sentenced to prison. Ramon Apellaniz, also known as “Kristopher Rockefeller” and “Kris,” 40, of Middletown, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison. Apellaniz in May waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the time. Court records show that Apellaniz previously operated The Gemini Project, LLC, a Newington-based business that offered counseling to patients with mental, behavioral and emotional disorders. Court records reveal that the Connecticut public license database shows that Apellaniz is not a licensed provider. In 2020, Apellaniz was charged by the state with larceny, health care fraud and identity theft for providing services to numerous Medicaid beneficiaries as a non-licensed provider, court records show. He also reportedly billed Medicaid for those services or for services that were not rendered at all. Medicaid reportedly paid out $909,268 for the false claims, according to court records. Apellaniz pleaded nolo contendere and was sentenced in Hartford Superior Court to eight years in prison, execution suspended after 15 months, and five years of parole on April 17, 2024. Court records show that he was released from Department of Correction custody on Nov. 19, 2024. Suhail Aponte was the sole principal and registered agent of Minds Cornerstone LLC, an Autism specialist group that was registered with the state in June 2021. According to court records, Aponte also not a licensed provider. “Although Apellaniz does not appear on any of Minds Cornerstone’s Medicaid enrollment forms, had no ownership interest in the company, and had no signatory authority to any of its bank accounts, he conspired with Aponte and ran the company under a pseudonym, including while he was incarcerated in state custody,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in May. Beginning in November 2021, Apellaniz and Aponte reportedly used Minds Cornerstone to submit fraudulent claims for applied behavior analysis services to children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. “The scheme involved billing for Medicaid for services purportedly rendered to patients when company payroll records indicate employees were not compensated for the associated services; direct supervision services purportedly provided by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst of a behavioral technician, when the corresponding procedure code for behavioral technician services was not billed; services purportedly rendered to patients who were actually in an inpatient hospital; and services purportedly rendered when parents of patients and former employees of Minds Cornerstone confirmed those services did not occur,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office has said. “Although Medicaid has lost a substantial sum of money, the indirect, but very real, victims of Apellaniz’s avarice are Connecticut’s low income families with autistic children,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a sentencing memo. “These youngsters needed individualized, one-on-one applied behavioral analysis (“ABA”) services to help them thrive at home, in school, and in the community. Their need was particularly acute during the conspiracy because, like the rest of the country, these children and their families were struggling with the impact of the pandemic.” Court records show that, between November 2021 and January 2025, Apellaniz and Aponte reportedly submitted or caused to be submitted, fraudulent Medicaid claims that resulted in a loss of $1,876,617 to the Connecticut Department of Social Services. The investigation also revealed that Apellaniz used some of the funds to pay a portion of the restitution he owes as a result of his state prosecution, according to court records. Aponte, who was also employed by the state of Connecticut in the Office of Policy and Management from May 2022 until November 2024, pleaded guilty to the same charge on April 30 and is awaiting sentencing. Apellaniz and Aponte also agreed to the forfeiture of $469,000 in funds seized during the investigation, as well their interest in additional bank accounts and two parcels of land in Hartford, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
