Thanks, But No Thanks: Temple Rejects $55 Million Pledge From ABA Centers Founder Barnett

How Temple Decided in Five Days

PHILADELPHIA – Temple University and Christopher M. Barnett, founder of ABA Centers of America, have agreed to end his $55 million philanthropic commitment amid a federal investigation into alleged health care fraud and other offenses involving his companies.

In a September 8 statement, President John Fry and Board of Trustees Chair Mitchell L. Morgan also announced Barnett’s resignation from the board. Temple said he “strenuously denies” the allegations and intends to contest them. The statement said he was recovering from a life-threatening medical event.

Temple said no payments were yet due under the pledge. Fry told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the university had received none. The newspaper reported September 8 that Barnett had not been charged.

Fry said he learned of the allegations in recently unsealed court documents on September 3. Temple contacted Barnett, who resigned from the board September 5. Trustees received a briefing September 7, before the university announced the decision the following day.

“After careful deliberation, we believe that moving forward with the gift would not be in the best interest of Temple.” – Mitchell L. Morgan, Chair, Board of Trustees, and John Fry, President, Temple University (September 8, 2026)

Temple announced the pledge on October 10, 2025, calling it the largest philanthropic commitment in its history, and renamed the college for Barnett. A 2010 political science graduate, Barnett had previously given $1 million in 2022 to establish the ABA Centers Autism Lab, which supports research, student training and diagnostic services.

Barnett’s name will come off the College of Public Health, an endowed dean’s title in the College of Liberal Arts and the Essential Needs Hub, Fry told the Inquirer. The hub will continue operating while Temple seeks another donor.

The decision affects planned support for autism research and services at Temple. In its earlier coverage of the pledge, Temple Magazine said $20 million would provide additional support to the existing ABA Centers Autism Lab. Fry told the Inquirer on September 8 that the autism initiative would need to be reconsidered.

What Federal Investigators Allege

The investigation appears in two affidavits filed in federal court in New Hampshire by Victoria Mens, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. The filings concern ABA Centers of America, its parent ICBD Holdings, billing company Exact Billing Solutions, and related businesses.

The first affidavit, filed February 19, 2025, sought access to Barnett’s Microsoft accounts. The December 31, 2025, affidavit sought records from 25 accounts associated with 14 people, including Barnett. It cites emails obtained through the earlier search, along with interviews and other records.

Samantha Parnham’s Reinforcement & Ruin newsletter reported on the warrants September 2.

The affidavits describe suspected health care fraud, wire fraud, false statements in health care matters and related conspiracy and money laundering offenses. They present investigators’ basis for seeking evidence; they are not findings of guilt.

According to the December affidavit, company leaders directed staff to misstate where services occurred to obtain higher reimbursement. It quotes a September 2022 admissions email about assigning Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield patients to New Hampshire offices. Former employees told investigators that some assignments existed on paper even though they treated the children in Massachusetts.

The affidavit also alleges that the company required clinicians to leave insurer networks and reassigned patients to preserve higher out-of-network reimbursement. In a June 2022 email exchange cited in the filing, Barnett directed staff to move patients away from an in-network, board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) within 48 hours.

Other allegations concern the relationship between treatment decisions and insurance payments. Former clinicians described patient categories based on reimbursement and pressure to maintain high treatment hours for those classified as “Super Payors.” One clinician told investigators that an assessment team resisted her recommendations to reduce hours and instead recommended 35 to 40 hours a week. The allegation concerns whether those hours reflected individual clinical needs.

The filing also describes discrepancies between clinical records and reports from ABA Connect, the company’s records system. One former billing employee said a record showing seven service units became eight in a billing report, and that provider details and service locations changed. Investigators further allege that the companies billed for time when no qualifying treatment occurred, including periods when children napped or watched television.

The affidavit reports more than $2.4 billion in submitted claims and more than $480 million in reimbursements across Barnett’s ABA companies, based on insurer data investigators collected. Those are aggregate billing and payment figures, not an established amount of fraud loss. Its Cigna figures cover January 1, 2022, through December 6, 2024: approximately $119.1 million billed to commercial plans and $26.5 million paid. These amounts form part of the broader totals.

Investigators also allege that Barnett used proceeds from fraudulent billing for personal spending. The affidavit describes a $9.95 million aircraft purchase agreement and a lease on a Fort Lauderdale waterfront home valued at nearly $20 million.

As of early September, ABA Centers has declined to comment on the federal investigation. Temple’s September 8 statement subsequently conveyed Barnett’s denial.

The Publix Case Before Judge Singhal

The federal investigation is distinct from a civil billing dispute with Publix Super Markets. In August 2025, ABA Centers’ Florida affiliate sued Publix over unpaid claims for children covered by the grocer’s employee health plan. The company said the plan continued authorizing care after stopping payments. Publix and its plan filed their federal suit on August 26, 2025.

In its September 2025 amended complaint, Publix alleges that ABA Cares of Florida, doing business as ABA Centers of Florida, and ABA Centers of Georgia inflated bills while collecting little or none of patients’ required share. Publix says this caused the plan to overpay and to treat patients’ cost-sharing requirements as satisfied when they were not.

The complaint identifies $15.05 million in allegedly fraudulent submissions from October 2024 through the filing date, alongside other disputed claims. It also alleges that the plan paid at least $5.8 million before detecting the claimed scheme.

U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal allowed six of nine counts to proceed in an order signed August 28, 2026, and entered August 31. The surviving claims include civil racketeering, fraud, and unjust enrichment. He dismissed three counts without prejudice.

“BEFORE THE COURT is a civil case that could also be brought as a criminal action.” – U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, Publix Super Markets v. ABA Cares of Florida, Southern District of Florida (August 28, 2026)

The judge wrote that the alleged conduct could also support criminal proceedings if true. He was deciding whether the complaint stated viable claims, accepting well-pleaded factual allegations as true for that purpose. The order does not establish that the defendants committed fraud or resolve the case on its merits. ABA Centers said it would continue contesting Publix’s allegations.

ABA Centers also sued Point32Health, parent of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, in a separate dispute over unpaid claims. ABA Centers allegedly sought $80 million, and Point32Health counterclaimed for more than $19 million, alleging billing fraud.

Irvine, the Other Temple Donor

Nathaniel Irvine, whom Temple identified in 2023 as Barnett’s business partner, is also a Temple donor. The university announced a $1.5 million endowed gift supporting the Irvine Family Impact Center in April 2026. That announcement also described Irvine and Barnett’s earlier joint $300,000 donation to Temple’s food pantry.

The December affidavit includes an account associated with Irvine among those investigators sought to search. It also describes emails concerning distributions involving his company, NTI Marketing. His inclusion in a warrant application does not establish wrongdoing.

What Matters for ABA Providers

For ABA operators and clinicians, the filings raise specific questions about whether treatment hours follow clinical recommendations, billing records match delivered services, and claims accurately represent service locations and patient payments. The allegations concern particular companies and practices; the filings do not establish misconduct across the field.

Community activities also require context. A former clinician’s concern about bowling outings, recorded in the affidavit, was that the sessions lacked the structure, data, and goals she expected of ABA services. The setting alone does not resolve whether a billed service met clinical and coverage requirements.

In its June statement on service integrity, the Autism Society of America called for accountability for misconduct while warning that broad restrictions could reduce families’ access to care.

Open Questions for Temple and the Court

Fry told the Inquirer that Temple would review Barnett’s earlier gifts and its donation acceptance practices. The university must also reconsider plans that depended on the terminated pledge. Temple’s September 8 statement does not say whether it is reviewing Irvine’s gift.

The court records leave the central allegations unresolved. The federal affidavits support requests for evidence, and Judge Singhal’s ruling allows civil claims to proceed; neither establishes that the companies or individuals committed fraud. The Inquirer reported September 8 that Barnett had not been charged, and Temple conveyed his denial that day.

AT A GLANCE

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