WOODBRIDGE, NJ — New Jersey has suspended four skilled nursing facilities from the state's Medicaid program after their principal owner pleaded guilty to federal healthcare fraud and tax conspiracy charges, according to the Office of the State Comptroller. The enforcement action, announced Thursday, represents the latest move in the state's intensifying campaign against Medicaid fraud in the long-term care industry.
The four facilities — Avalon Rehab and Care Center and Atrium Post Acute Care in Wayne, along with Atrium Senior Living and Atrium Post Acute Care in Park Ridge — are owned by Kevin Breslin and six co-owners of Little Falls-based KBWB Operations, which operates under the name Atrium Health and Senior Living, according to an OSC press release. The disqualification prohibits the facilities from receiving state Medicaid funds and from serving Medicaid beneficiaries, with the suspension taking effect May 7, 2025.
The comptroller's action followed Breslin's guilty plea on December 17, 2024, to federal healthcare fraud and tax conspiracy charges, as reported by McKnight's Long-Term Care News. Federal prosecutors had described a scheme in which investors received payments while staff and vendors went unpaid. In early 2023, Breslin and KBWB-Atrium faced 12 counts related to what prosecutors characterized as a nearly four-year operation that allegedly deprived residents in 23 Wisconsin skilled nursing facilities of essential supplies. According to federal authorities, the company directed Medicare and Medicaid proceeds toward guaranteed payments to its owners regardless of the financial condition of the facilities themselves.
The OSC indicated that KBWB-Atrium could potentially retain Medicaid eligibility if the current owners relinquish control — either by divesting ownership or placing the facilities under an independent receiver who would ensure the suspended individuals have no access to or authority over Medicaid funds, according to the comptroller's office. Breslin and KBWB-Atrium face sentencing in May.
A Statewide Crackdown on Nursing Home Fraud
The suspensions are part of a broader enforcement strategy led by New Jersey State Comptroller Kevin Walsh, who has made exposing and prosecuting Medicaid fraud a central priority since taking office five years ago, according to Pamela Kruger, OSC director of communications, in comments provided to McKnight's Long-Term Care News.
In December 2024, the comptroller's office removed what it identified as New Jersey's lowest-rated nursing home from the Medicaid program after investigators uncovered years of alleged fraud, resident abuse, and neglect, as reported by McKnight's. The operators of South Jersey Extended Care in Bridgeton — Mordechay "Mark" Weisz, Michael Konig, and Steven Krausman — were found to have funneled millions of dollars from the now-shuttered facility into their own businesses, including nine other facilities owned by Konig and Krausman, according to the OSC investigation.
"As a state, we have to do a much better job of vetting owners, getting through intentionally opaque ownership structures and understanding who is really making the decisions for the nursing home and whether they are making decisions in the best interests of residents or behalf of themselves to inflate their own profit margins," Walsh said during a December press conference, as reported by McKnight's. "We need to make sure our funds are being spent on good nursing homes for quality care."
CMS Inspection History
The fraud enforcement actions raise broader questions about oversight of nursing home ownership across the state. To provide context, NursingHomeNews.org reviewed federal inspection data for New Jersey nursing facilities.
One facility in the Woodbridge area, St. Joseph's Home AL & NC, Inc., offers a contrasting example of how well-run facilities can operate. According to CMS data, St. Joseph's Home holds a 5-out-of-5-star overall rating, with top marks in both health inspections and staffing. The 51-bed nonprofit facility has recorded just 11 total deficiencies across six inspections, with its most recent survey conducted on April 8, 2025.
The deficiencies on record at St. Joseph's have been relatively minor. The most serious citation, issued on January 21, 2022, involved infection prevention and control program implementation at a severity level of K — a pattern that was common across nursing facilities during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. More recent citations from 2023 and 2025 involved administrative matters such as assessment data transmission timelines and resident notification procedures, all at the lowest severity levels.
The contrast between well-rated nonprofit facilities like St. Joseph's and the fraud-plagued operations targeted by the comptroller underscores a pattern that regulators and advocates have long identified: ownership structure and financial incentives play a significant role in determining the quality of care residents receive. Federal data consistently shows that nonprofit nursing homes tend to receive higher inspection ratings and fewer serious deficiency citations compared to their for-profit counterparts.
Ownership & Operations
The KBWB-Atrium case highlights the challenges regulators face in monitoring complex, multi-state nursing home ownership structures. According to federal prosecutors, the company operated from corporate offices in New Jersey while running facilities across multiple states, making it difficult for any single state regulator to detect financial irregularities.
Federal regulations require nursing home operators participating in Medicare and Medicaid to maintain transparent financial records and to direct program funds toward resident care. The allegations against Breslin and KBWB-Atrium describe a pattern in which those obligations were allegedly subordinated to owner enrichment — a scenario that Walsh's office has now targeted in multiple enforcement actions.
The comptroller's escalating enforcement campaign signals that New Jersey intends to take a more aggressive posture toward nursing home owners who exploit public healthcare funds. With Breslin's sentencing scheduled for May 2025, the outcome could set a precedent for how states handle Medicaid fraud cases in the long-term care sector.
Resources for Families
Family members who have concerns about the care their loved ones are receiving in any New Jersey nursing home should contact the New Jersey Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-877-582-6995. The ombudsman program advocates for residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other long-term care settings, and can help resolve complaints related to quality of care, resident rights, and facility operations.
Families can also reach the national Elder Care Locator hotline at 1-800-677-1116 for assistance connecting with local resources, or visit [ltcombudsman.org](https://ltcombudsman.org) for additional information about long-term care advocacy programs.
If you suspect Medicaid fraud or financial exploitation at a nursing facility, you can report concerns to the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller's Medicaid Fraud Division. Reports of suspected abuse or neglect should also be filed with the New Jersey Department of Health's complaint hotline. All reports can be made anonymously.
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