Staff Reports
An Anchorage woman has admitted she treated the Veterans Health Administration like an ATM. Marianne Rolland, 73, pleaded guilty after federal prosecutors say she billed the VHA for thousands of fake mental‑health visits and stole money meant for veterans. The case is a sharp reminder that fraud hurts real people and wastes taxpayer dollars.
The crime and the guilty plea
Rolland owned White Raven Healing Services, LLC. Prosecutors say she submitted 2,833 false claims totaling about $2.7 million to the Veterans Health Administration. The VHA paid roughly $1,839,727 on those claims. In court, Rolland admitted she falsely presented herself as a licensed clinical social worker and agreed to repay the money. Under the plea deal she will pay $1.1 million toward restitution by the sentencing date.
How she did it — and why it matters
The admissions are the stuff of a bad crime drama. Rolland is accused of billing the VA for services she did not perform, using prefilled diagnosis codes without making diagnoses, claiming in‑person visits that were remote, billing prolonged‑service codes improperly, and even employing an unlicensed person to do counseling while charging as if she had provided the care. Those tactics drained funds from a program charged with caring for veterans’ mental health.
Who investigated and what officials said
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General led the probe and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska brought the case. Inspector General Cheryl L. Mason called the scheme “a serious breach of trust,” and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman said it was “stealing money from taxpayers and robbing veterans of legitimate services.” Hard to argue with that straight talk — fraudsters don’t just game the system, they steal help from the people who earned it.
Next steps and the bigger picture
Rolland faces up to 10 years in prison, with sentencing set for January 20, 2027. The plea should also prompt a wider look at how the VHA vets outside providers and checks billing for telehealth and prolonged services. Veterans deserve mental‑health care, not smoke and mirrors. Taxpayers deserve their money to go to actual care, not fraud. This case shows investigators can and will go after offenders — but it also shows there’s still work to do to stop fraud before it happens.
