MIAMI — Even by Miami-Dade County’s reputation for Medicare fraud, the indictment was a shocker:

American Therapeutic’s patients could not feed themselves or control their own bodily waste.

An employee complained that those patients should be ineligible for Medicare since they could not benefit from treatment.

She got fired.

That launched whistle-blower and criminal investigations that led to the Justice Department’s takedown on Thursday of Miami-based American Therapeutic Corp., the nation’s largest chain of mental health clinics.

Federal prosecutors charged the company and four top executives with scheming to fleece $200 million from the taxpayer-funded health care program.

At the crack of dawn Thursday, federal agents arrested Lawrence Duran, 48, of North Miami, the owner of American Therapeutic.

Also arrested were Marianella Valera, 39, the company’s CEO; Margarita Acevedo, 40, the firm’s marketing director; and Judith Negron, 39, vice president of a subsidiary.