The lavish way of life of one in all California’s highest-paid nonprofit CEOs has been uncovered as whistleblowers declare employees have been pressured to funnel susceptible addicts into taxpayer-funded rehabs to spice up his personal income.
Albert Senella, president and CEO of Tarzana Remedy Facilities, pulls in a whopping $2.36 million a 12 months working the city-supported habit therapy nonprofit, tax data seen by the California Publish reveal.
The group affords medical detox, residential therapy, psychological healthcare and restoration packages, with the work sponsored by California and Los Angeles taxpayers.
The Publish noticed Senella final week at his sprawling six-bedroom, eight-bathroom Simi Valley residence, which is price about $3.7 million.
The property boasts a front-yard placing inexperienced, swimming pool with a waterslide and a basketball court docket. Three autos sat within the driveway, together with a BMW i7 price greater than $100,000, a Vary Rover and a Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Senella’s world is way from the bare-bones circumstances former staff describe inside his habit restoration nonprofit, with plastic mattresses, shared showers and different fundamental facilities.
When the California Publish visited his Tarzana therapy heart, there have been potential sufferers slumped exterior, many with their belongings stuffed into rubbish baggage. In the meantime, the nonprofit’s annual income has practically tripled, from $76.6 million in 2019 to $224.1 million final 12 months, public tax data present.
Senella’s compensation has climbed with the income: from $1.09 million in 2020 to $1.84 million in 2024 — earlier than his wage elevated by a whopping 28% final 12 months to $2.36 million.
Tarzana’s next-highest-paid government collected roughly $900,000, whereas a number of different prime workers acquired greater than $300,000 every, in response to tax data.
Taxpayers from the Metropolis of Los Angeles poured $10.8 million into the therapy heart nonprofit since 2021, figures from the Metropolis Administrative Officer utilizing controller data present. In 2025, the town paid the corporate $2.17 million and one other $1.8 million up to now in 2026.
There are not any allegations that Tarzana Remedy Facilities improperly billed sufferers or Medi-Cal, or collected taxpayer cash for companies that weren’t supplied.
The cash comes from the Los Angeles Housing Division; Division on Incapacity; Library; Mayor’s Workplace and Council Districts 3 and 4, in response to the CAO.
One present Council District 3 contract alone authorizes as much as $670,242 for the therapy heart by means of June 2027, with roughly $171,000 paid up to now.
‘Telling me to lie. . .’
The CAO burdened that it solely helps course of funds for that contract and didn’t choose the therapy heart or oversee its work.
Los Angeles County has additionally pumped tens of millions into the group despite the fact that auditors have raised crimson flags.
A County Controller audit in 2022 discovered “important fiscal and administrative non-compliance points” in a Division of Psychological Well being contract, which paid the therapy heart enterprise about $26 million over two years.
The middle was discovered to have improperly allotted payroll bills for seven workers, and it was advisable the nonprofit repay the county. The nonprofit disputed the findings in a letter to the county.
Auditors additionally discovered 9 of 13 workers didn’t have the required criminal-background clearances and famous comparable issues had surfaced throughout earlier opinions of the nonprofit’s public-health contracts.
The nonprofit attributed the errors to inside techniques.
Regardless of Tarzana being positioned on an warning database following the audit, the cash has continued flowing, with data displaying it continued receiving tens of millions by means of authorities contracts, together with a $5.65 million enhance linked to a Division of Psychological Well being contract in 2024.
In the meantime, two former workers instructed The Publish that workers are beneath intense strain to generate billable hours, signing up addicts within the center or the beginning of detox, many whom have been nonetheless vomiting, hallucinating or struggling to remain awake.
Each ex-workers independently described the strain they have been beneath to succeed in between 390 and 420 billable minutes to the state and personal insurance coverage firms day-after-day.
One worker, who not too long ago stop after a 12 months into his job, stated billing strain consumed his work day, relatively than serving to these battling habit.
“I’m not considering of tips on how to assist folks. I’m considering, ‘How am I going to invoice you?’” he stated.
Pat, one other former worker who requested that her final identify be withheld, described the identical strain and continually being instructed she “must get her billing up.”
She claims staff have been despatched into detox items earlier than addicts had completed their required 30-day detoxes, which permits the nonprofit to invoice for extra sufferers, sooner.
“They have been within the first day, first hours of detox,” Pat stated. “They’re not of their proper thoughts.”
Pat claims her caseload ballooned to greater than 160 folks — whereas most organizations deal with 25 folks per employees member. She referred to as the workload “bodily and humanly inconceivable.”
The California Publish reviewed inside paperwork and textual content messages between workers that corroborate the accounts.
“She is telling me to lie about my billing,” one worker wrote about her supervisor.
In one other trade, the worker claimed staff have been being instructed to alter how they billed, or risked dropping their jobs.
“The one factor they f—ing care about is billing,” the previous staffer responded.
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who launched investigations into alleged nonprofit and public corruption throughout his time in workplace and is working for sheriff once more, blasted the CEO’s earnings.
“Listening to information like that is unhappy realizing that nonprofits are starved of funds as they go about serving the folks,” Villanueva instructed The Publish.
The Publish reached out to Senella to ask about his pay and the whistleblower’s allegations.
“Government compensation at Tarzana Remedy Facilities is decided yearly using the detailed course of set forth in Treasury Rules to ascertain a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness,” he stated.
Regardless of her issues, Pat burdened that Tarzana does really do significant work serving to folks to get therapy.
However each former workers say the push for billable companies started overwhelming the mission.
“We got here right here to assist folks, to not make a greenback,” the previous worker stated.
After studying Senella made practically $2.4 million final 12 months, he questioned the place the nonprofit’s priorities lay.
“Tens of millions of {dollars} going to at least one person who can be utilized to essentially do some completely different good, like to essentially assist folks.”
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