A patient outside of Narco Freedom at 250 Grand Concourse holds a 30 mg take-home dose of Methadone (Rosalind Adams/ Bronx Ink)

Non-profit executive Alan Brand, 64, and his son Jason Brand, 35, were indicted on charges of fraud and embezzlement by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week. Alan Brand is CEO of Narco Freedom, a drug treatment center based in Mott Haven that serves thousands of patients each year at ten locations across New York. It also runs a vast network of “sober homes,” many in the Bronx, that Brand allegedly used to launder kickbacks,  according to the indictment.

Records show Narco Freedom hired Jason Brand’s company, DASO Development, to do construction work at various locations. At the same time, his father, Alan, owns a private maintenance and repair company that does work on the houses. Even though 2012 tax records show that the non-profit spent $5.5 million in maintenance and repairs, the conditions in these houses for recovering addicts remains poor. Residents, many with nowhere else to live, say they are routinely threatened with being evicted if they make formal complaints.

For the full story by BronxInk reporter Rosalind Adams, head to Al Jazeera America:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/10/27/narco-freedom-soberhomesalanjasonbrand.html