The owner of an Oak Lawn methadone clinic accused in a massive Medicaid fraud scheme involving a yacht called “Butt Nekkid” withdrew nearly $3 million in still-unaccounted-for funds from his bank and intended to flee to Brazil before he was arrested last month at an airport in Miami, prosecutors told a federal judge Wednesday.
In asking for a bond, however, a lawyer for Daniel Robinson argued it was “nothing more than rank speculation” to suggest there was any attempt to duck charges or hide assets, saying Robinson knew he was being watched by the government and was merely looking to invest in a high-end rental property in Brazil.
In front of a packed courtroom Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge Albert Berry III said there was not enough evidence that Robinson was a flight risk and ordered him released on a $150,000 unsecured bond, with Robinson’s mother and wife serving as third-party custodians.
Several dozen supporters of Robinson’s burst into applause at Berry’s ruling, prompting the judge to scold the gallery. “No, no no,” the judge said, “that’s not what this is. … This isn’t a game show where we applaud when things happen.”
After the ruling, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Finch objected to the bond being unsecured — meaning Robinson does not have to post any of it — given the “amount of missing cash” from his bank, which was withdrawn over several days in June when he was already aware that charges were imminent.
But Berry disagreed, saying, “to me this is not a money thing.”
“His mother and his wife are gonna be on the hook if he messes it up,” Berry said.
Robinson, 51, of Palos Park, was originally charged in a criminal complaint made public on June 23, two days after his arrest. A grand jury later handed up an indictment charging him with three counts of health care fraud and money laundering, court records show. He has pleaded not guilty.
The charges were part of a nationwide effort called the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which the Justice Department says resulted in charges against 455 defendants, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, involving more than $6.5 billion in false claims and “significant patient harm.”
According to the charges, Robinson is the owner of ODA Solutions, a clinic that offers both substance abuse services and mental health services from the same site in the 4200 block of West 95th Street in Oak Lawn.
From December 2023 to the present, ODA Solutions allegedly submitted hundreds of fraudulent claims to government-subsidized healthcare programs for “behavioral health counseling and therapy services that were never provided,” collecting at least $75 million in that time frame, according to the 39-page complaint.
According to the charges, ODA Solutions regularly submitted claims for 500 or more hours of counseling and therapy services per day, far beyond what its 16 employees could possibly have provided even if they worked 24 hours per day.
When Medicaid-affiliated programs like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois asked for proof of services, ODA Solutions provided dozens of fake visit notes purportedly documenting outpatient therapy sessions that never could have occurred — including some on dates “when the patients in question were actually hospitalized,” the complaint alleged.
One such patient, identified in the complaint as B.S., purportedly received five days’ worth of behavioral health counseling and alcohol and drug treatment at ODA Solutions in August 2024, according to the complaint.
During that time, however, B.S. was in fact hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the head, and died there on Aug. 25, 2024, the complaint alleged.
According to payment records, Robinson paid himself a $20,000-a-week salary from July 2024 through March, totaling about $1.8 million.
During the same roughly two-year time frame, Robinson diverted over $27.4 million from the Medicare payments to brokerage accounts he controlled, the complaint alleged. He spent another $4.1 million on real estate and home improvements, $1.3 million on diamonds, watches and other luxury items, and about $616,000 on vehicles, according to the charges.
The complaint also alleged Robinson laundered at least $10.1 million in ill-gotten gains through a car dealership he set up in south suburban Chicago Heights with an associate, identified in the charges only as Individual A.
Once Robinson transferred funds from ODA Solutions to accounts in the name of the dealership, Car King Auto, Individual A used them to purchase luxury vehicles, including an $73,000 Bentley Continental GT V8, as well as an Azimut 43, 42-foot-long yacht named Maid Marion at a price of about $300,000, the complaint alleged.
The yacht, which was bought in early 2025, has since been renamed “Butt Nekkid” and is docked at the 31st Street Harbor in Chicago, according to the complaint, which included a photo of the boat.
Individual A has not been charged.
Court records show the government seized the yacht in June. Prosecutors have also filed a lengthy forfeiture warrant for other assets tied to Robinson, including about $32 million in various bank accounts and properties in Glenwood, Palos Park, Tinley Park, and Willowbrook, as well as in Indiana and Florida, records show.
More Top Picks Red Light Therapy
In court Wednesday, Finch said that at the time he was arrested, Robinson had been searching luxury properties in Copacabana, the famed beach area south of Rio de Janeiro, that were listed “in the $4 to $5 million range.”
On one trip Robinson took to Brazil in late May, authorities seized about $640,000 in cash, Finch said.
Robinson’s lawyer, Michael Leonard, said his client was transparent with the government that he was taking money to Brazil and searching for an Airbnb investment property, and that he’s hired counsel in Brazil to try and get the seized money back.
“There is nothing wrong with an individual potentially spending money on an Airbnb,” Leonard said, noting it “would be pretty dumb” to tell the government what he was up to if he really intended to flee.
Leonard also painted his client as a success story, a man who lifted himself out of a life of drug addiction and petty crime to become a respected member of his community who is dedicated to helping others with drug issues.
As part of his bond presentation, Leonard submitted nearly 30 letters from supporters describing how Robinson helped them in their lives.
“He was a drug addict until age 36,” Leonard said. “But he turned his life dramatically around, and that’s why these folks are here. They know that he is a stand-up guy.”