The opulent life of one of California’s best-paid nonprofit executives is drawing scrutiny after whistleblowers alleged that workers were pushed to steer vulnerable people with addictions into taxpayer-funded rehab programs that helped drive his compensation higher.
Albert Senella, president and CEO of Tarzana Treatment Centers, earns $2.36 million a year at the helm of the city-supported addiction treatment nonprofit, according to tax records reviewed by the California Post.
Tarzana Treatment Centers provides medical detox, residential care, mental health services and recovery programs, with its operations subsidized by taxpayers in California and Los Angeles.
Last week, the Post observed Senella at his expansive Simi Valley residence, a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom home valued at about $3.7 million.
The property includes a front-yard putting green, a swimming pool with a waterslide and a basketball court. Parked in the driveway were three vehicles: a BMW i7 worth more than $100,000, a Range Rover and a Cadillac Escalade SUV.
That lifestyle stands in sharp contrast to the sparse conditions former employees say they saw inside the nonprofit’s recovery facilities, where they described plastic mattresses, shared showers and other minimal amenities.
When the California Post visited the Tarzana treatment center, prospective patients were seen slumped outside, many carrying their belongings in garbage bags. At the same time, the nonprofit’s annual revenue has surged, nearly tripling from $76.6 million in 2019 to $224.1 million last year, public tax filings show.
Senella’s pay has risen alongside that growth, increasing from $1.09 million in 2020 to $1.84 million in 2024 before jumping another 28% last year to $2.36 million.
Tarzana’s next-highest-paid executive collected roughly $900,000, while several other top employees received more than $300,000 each, according to tax records.
Taxpayers from the City of Los Angeles poured $10.8 million into the treatment center nonprofit since 2021, figures from the City Administrative Officer using controller records show. In 2025, the city paid the company $2.17 million and another $1.8 million so far in 2026.
There are no allegations that Tarzana Treatment Centers improperly billed patients or Medi-Cal, or collected taxpayer money for services that were not provided.
The money comes from the Los Angeles Housing Department; Department on Disability; Library; Mayor’s Office and Council Districts 3 and 4, according to the CAO.
One current Council District 3 contract alone authorizes up to $670,242 for the treatment center through June 2027, with roughly $171,000 paid so far.
‘Telling me to lie. . .’
The CAO stressed that it only helps process payments for that contract and did not select the treatment center or oversee its work.
Los Angeles County has also pumped millions into the organization even though auditors have raised red flags.
A County Controller audit in 2022 found “significant fiscal and administrative non-compliance issues” in a Department of Mental Health contract, which paid the treatment center business about $26 million over two years.
The center was found to have improperly allocated payroll expenses for seven employees, and it was recommended the nonprofit repay the county. The nonprofit disputed the findings in a letter to the county.
Auditors also found nine of 13 employees didn’t have the required criminal-background clearances and noted similar problems had surfaced during previous reviews of the nonprofit’s public-health contracts.
The nonprofit attributed the errors to internal systems.
Despite Tarzana being placed on an warning database following the audit, the money has continued flowing, with records showing it continued receiving millions through government contracts, including a $5.65 million increase connected to a Department of Mental Health contract in 2024.
Meanwhile, two former employees told The Post that employees are under intense pressure to generate billable hours, signing up addicts in the middle or the start of detox, many whom were still vomiting, hallucinating or struggling to stay awake.
Both ex-workers independently described the pressure they were under to reach between 390 and 420 billable minutes to the state and private insurance companies every day.
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One employee, who recently quit after a year into his job, said billing pressure consumed his work day, rather than helping those battling addiction.
“I’m not thinking of how to help people. I’m thinking, ‘How am I going to bill you?’” he said.
Pat, another former employee who asked that her last name be withheld, described the same pressure and constantly being told she “needs to get her billing up.”
She claims workers were sent into detox units before addicts had finished their required 30-day detoxes, which allows the nonprofit to bill for more patients, faster.
“They were in the first day, first hours of detox,” Pat said. “They’re not in their right mind.”
Pat claims her caseload ballooned to more than 160 people — while most organizations handle 25 people per staff member. She called the workload “physically and humanly impossible.”
The California Post reviewed internal documents and text messages between employees that corroborate the accounts.
“She is telling me to lie about my billing,” one employee wrote about her supervisor.
In another exchange, the employee claimed workers were being told to change how they billed, or risked losing their jobs.
“The only thing they f—ing care about is billing,” the former staffer responded.
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who launched investigations into alleged nonprofit and public corruption during his time in office and is running for sheriff again, blasted the CEO’s income.
“Hearing news like this is sad knowing that nonprofits are starved of funds as they go about serving the people,” Villanueva told The Post.
The Post reached out to Senella to ask about his pay and the whistleblower’s allegations.
“Executive compensation at Tarzana Treatment Centers is determined annually utilizing the detailed process set forth in Treasury Regulations to establish a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness,” he said.
Despite her concerns, Pat stressed that Tarzana does actually do meaningful work helping people to get treatment.
But both former employees say the push for billable services began overwhelming the mission.
“We came here to help people, not to make a dollar,” the former employee said.
After learning Senella made nearly $2.4 million last year, he questioned where the nonprofit’s priorities lay.
“Millions of dollars going to one person that can be used to really do some different good, like to really help people.”
