A Chicago chiropractor has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for defrauding a private insurer out of almost $2.1 million by billing for services that were never provided.
Clarence W. Brown III, who owned Dr. CB3 Wellness, Inc. and Apex Integrated Medical Center, Ltd., both located in Chicago, submitted more than 6,000 false claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois between 2016 and 2020. The fraudulent claims included charges for treatments supposedly rendered when Brown was either traveling internationally or when his medical license had been suspended.
According to prosecutors, Brown used the proceeds from the scheme to support an extravagant lifestyle that included purchasing a home, a BMW X5 valued at $100,000, taking international vacations, and shopping at luxury retailers such as Tiffany’s.
Brown was convicted on all nine counts of healthcare fraud after a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago in 2024. On November 19, 2025, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness sentenced him to five years and ten months in federal prison and ordered restitution of $2,088,884 to Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The announcement of the sentence came from Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office.
“Defendant was motivated by greed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andréa L. Campbell argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant made the calculated decision to engage in a three-and-half-year fraud that benefited him and his lofty aspirations.”
