Lansing, MI - An Oakland County woman accused of posing as a board-certified therapist at the Oxford Recovery Center in Brighton will stand trial on numerous charges for the unauthorized practice of a health profession, identify theft, and witness intimidation, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday, February 2, 2023.
Kimberly Casey Coden-Diskin, 34, was bound over for trial following a partial preliminary examination held on January 18 and February 1, 2023, before Judge Shauna Murphy in the 53rd District Court in Livingston County.
Coden-Diskin is charged with:
- Sixteen counts of unauthorized practice of a health profession, four-year felonies with a $5,000 fine; and
- Two counts of identity theft, five-year felonies with a $25,000 fine.
The Department of Attorney General alleges that Coden-Diskin falsely represented herself as a Board-Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA) and used false credentials to treat highly vulnerable children diagnosed with Autism and work with their parents.
In 2018, Coden-Diskin obtained employment at the Oxford Recovery Center in Brighton, where she performed services that required a license and certification that she did not have. Further, Coden-Diskin was never licensed by the State of Michigan as required under the Michigan Public Health Code. She used professional business cards, verbal statements, and written documents to pose as a licensed medical professional. She presented university degrees that she is alleged not to have earned and utilized the certification number of another state certified individual to conceal her lack of certification.
The Attorney General reminds employers to take the time to verify claimed licenses and certifications of job applicants—particularly when those positions involve sensitive work or contact with vulnerable populations. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs maintains a free public license verification website.
“Regrettably, employers can’t always rely upon what an applicant may represent to them. In many cases, due diligence requires verification of legally necessary qualifications,” said Nessel. “When circumstances arise that someone misrepresents themselves as a medical professional, my office stands ready to intervene.”
Coden-Diskin will be due in court next for pre-trial conferences on these charges in the 44th Circuit Court in Livingston County. That date has not yet been set.
Following the filing of the original case, Coden-Diskin was charged with one count of witness intimidation for her alleged communications with a witness in the original case. Coden-Diskin waived her right to a preliminary exam on that case.
The Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division (HCFD) handled the case for the Department. The HCFD is the federally certified Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for Michigan, and it receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,196,188 for the fiscal year 2023. The remaining 25% percent, totaling $1,732,061, is funded by the State of Michigan.
Please note: A criminal charge is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.