Case Summaries

2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown

Cases Filed in Federal Court

District of Arizona

Farrukh Jarar Ali, 41, of Pakistan, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with an alleged $650 million scheme involving at least 41 substance abuse treatment clinics in Arizona. As alleged in the indictment, Ali owned ProMD Solutions (“ProMD”), a Pakistan-based company that provided credentialing, enrollment, medical coding, and billing services for outpatient treatment centers that were purportedly in the business of providing addiction treatment services for persons suffering from alcohol and drug addiction. Ali and ProMD credentialed and enrolled multiple substance abuse treatment clinics as providers with Arizona’s Medicaid agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (“AHCCCS”), but these clinics did not provide legitimate care to patients, many of whom were recruited from the homeless population or Native American reservations. Ali submitted approximately $650 million in false and fraudulent claims to AHCCCS for addiction treatment services that were not provided, were not provided as billed, were so substandard that they failed to serve a treatment purpose, were not used as part of or integrated into any treatment plan, and were medically unnecessary. AHCCCS paid approximately $564 million for these false and fraudulent claims. Ali also created false therapy notes for treatment that was never provided, and the clinics working with Ali provided these falsified records to AHCCCS in response to audits. Ali personally received approximately $24.5 million of AHCCCS funds as a result of the scheme, and he used $2.9 million of the funds to purchase a home located on a golf estate in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney S. Babu Kaza of the Midwest Strike Force, Assistant Chief James Hayes of the National Rapid Response Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Williams of the District of Arizona.
Cle’Esther Davenport, 51, of Peoria, Arizona, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive and pay kickbacks, and receiving kickbacks, in connection with a substance abuse treatment scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Davenport owned a company, Davenport House LLC, that purportedly provided housing to individuals enrolled in health plans funded by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (“AHCCCS”), Arizona’s Medicaid program. Davenport received approximately $739,000 in illegal kickbacks to refer individuals to Tusa Integrated Clinic, LLC (“Tusa”), an outpatient treatment center that purported to provide substance abuse and behavioral health treatment to AHCCCS-insured patients, resulting in improper payments of approximately $1.58 million from AHCCCS to Tusa. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief James Hayes and Trial Attorneys Sarah Edwards and Lauren Randell of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Williams of the District of Arizona.
Ira Denny, 56, of Surprise, Arizona, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for medically unnecessary amniotic allografts that were procured through kickbacks and bribes. As alleged in the information, medically untrained sales representatives identified and referred elderly Medicare beneficiaries to Denny, a nurse practitioner, who applied amniotic allografts to the beneficiaries without exercising independent medical judgment and in the amount and frequency determined by the sales representatives. Medicare was billed approximately $209,359,607 for allografts ordered and applied by Denny, which were medically unreasonable and unnecessary, ineligible for reimbursement, and procured through kickbacks and bribes. Medicare paid approximately $138,590,922 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys William Hochul III and Shane Butland of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Williams of the District of Arizona.
Tyler Kontos, 29, of Mesa, Arizona, Joel “Max” Kupetz, 36, of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jorge Kinds, 49, of Phoenix, Arizona, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with a $1 billion amniotic wound allograft fraud scheme. Kontos and Kupetz were also charged with transactional money laundering, and Kupetz was charged with receiving health care kickbacks. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants targeted elderly Medicare patients, many of whom were terminally ill in hospice care, through Arizona-based companies Apex Mobile Medical LLC, Apex Medical LLC, Viking Medical Consultants LLC, and APX Mobile Medical LLC to cause unnecessary and expensive allografts to be applied to these vulnerable patients’ wounds indiscriminately, without coordination with the patients’ treating physicians, to superficial wounds that did not need this treatment, and in sizes excessively larger than the wound. Kontos and Kupetz—neither of whom had any medical training—located elderly Medicare patients with wounds of any size or severity, ordered and recommended the ordering of allografts to be placed on the patients’ wounds, and referred the patients to Kinds and other nurse practitioners to apply the allografts. Kinds, a licensed nurse practitioner, applied whatever quantities and sizes of allografts medically untrained sales representatives ordered for the patients, without conducting an independent medical assessment, resulting in the application of numerous and inappropriately large allografts to single small wounds and wounds that required only traditional conservative treatment to heal. In just fourteen months, the defendants and their co-conspirators caused the submission of over $1 billion in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, CHAMPVA, TRICARE, and commercial insurers, of which over $600 million was paid. Kontos and Kupetz received illegal kickbacks for ordering and arranging for and recommending the purchasing and ordering of allografts, while Kinds received up to $1,000 for each allograft application. Assets were seized upon the defendants’ indictment, including cryptocurrency and bank accounts totaling more than $7.2 million. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys William Hochul III and Shane Butland of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Williams of the District of Arizona. Trial Attorney Yuliana Reyes of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Bozdech of the District of Arizona are handling asset forfeiture.
Gina Palacios, 40, of Phoenix, Arizona, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for medically unnecessary amniotic allografts that were procured through kickbacks and bribes. As alleged in the information, medically untrained sales representatives identified and referred elderly Medicare beneficiaries to Palacios, a nurse practitioner, who applied amniotic allografts to the beneficiaries without exercising independent medical judgment and in the amount and frequency determined by the sales representatives. Medicare was billed approximately $59,470,478 for allografts ordered and applied by Palacios, which were medically unreasonable and unnecessary, ineligible for reimbursement, and procured through kickbacks and bribes. Medicare paid approximately $28,442,271 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys William Hochul III and Shane Butland of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Williams of the District of Arizona.

Central District of California

Dr. Shivangi Amin, 39, of Los Angeles, California, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a $2 million hospice fraud scheme. As alleged in the information, Dr. Amin, a licensed physician, falsely diagnosed Medicare beneficiaries with terminal illnesses and referred them to hospice care facilities without personally evaluating or communicating with the beneficiaries or reviewing any medical records associated with the beneficiaries. The hospice facilities billed Medicare approximately $2,059,338 based on Dr. Amin’s false diagnoses and referrals, and Medicare paid approximately $1,909,431 based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sandor Callahan of the Los Angeles Strike Force.
Patricia Anderson, 57, of West Hills, California, was charged by information with two counts of health care fraud in connection with her role in a $269 million scheme to defraud California Medicaid (“Medi-Cal”). As alleged in the information, Anderson, a nurse practitioner, together with her co-schemers, exploited Medi-Cal’s prior authorization suspension by billing Medi-Cal tens of millions of dollars per month for dispensing high-reimbursement, non-contracted, generic drugs. The fraud scheme medications prescribed by Anderson included pain creams and Folite tablets, a vitamin available over the counter, which were billed for thousands of dollars each. These high-cost reimbursement medications would have required prior authorization under Medi-Cal’s prior payment system, but prior authorization had been temporarily suspended during Medi-Cal’s transition to a new payment platform. Anderson signed and submitted fraudulent prescriptions to Monte Vista Pharmacy for these prescription medications without evaluating the patients for whom the drugs were prescribed, without reviewing the patients’ medical records, or without otherwise determining that the drugs prescribed were medically necessary. In exchange for signing the prescriptions, Anderson was paid at least $275,000 in kickbacks. From May 2022 to April 2023, Monte Vista billed Medi-Cal approximately $269,130,829, and Medi-Cal paid approximately $178,746,556 based on Anderson’s prescriptions for these high-reimbursement, non-contracted generic drugs. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Niall O’Donnell and Trial Attorney Siobhan M. Namazi of the Los Angeles Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger A. Hsieh of the Central District of California.
Terry Patton, 54, of Yucaipa, California, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks and six counts of unlawful payment or receipt of health care kickbacks in connection with a $2.7 million scheme to refer patients to substance abuse treatment facilities throughout Orange County, California. As alleged in the indictment, from 2019 to 2022, Patton, through his company True Help, received approximately $2,312,150 in kickbacks from treatment facilities in exchange for patient referrals for addiction treatment. Patton paid individuals who recruited patients throughout the country for treatment in exchange for these patient referrals, including by paying over $454,355 in kickbacks to one patient broker. These patient brokers typically paid patients to attend treatment at the facilities. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Siobhan M. Namazi of the Los Angeles Strike Force.
Paul Richard Randall, 66, of Orange, California, was charged by complaint with health care fraud in connection with Randall’s role in a $269 million scheme to defraud California Medicaid (“Medi-Cal”). As alleged in the complaint, Randall, a patient marketer, along with pharmacy owner Kyrollos Mekail, nurse practitioner Patricia Anderson, and others, took advantage of Medi-Cal’s suspension of its requirement that health care providers obtain prior authorization before providing certain health care services or medications as a condition of reimbursement. The suspension of the prior authorization requirements was part of a transition of Medi-Cal’s prescription drug program to a new payment system. Through a business called Monte Vista Pharmacy, Randall exploited Medi-Cal’s prior authorization suspension by causing the submission of over $269 million in claims to Medi-Cal for high-reimbursement, non-contracted, generic drugs. Medi-Cal paid over $178 million based on these claims. Randall and others then allegedly laundered their illicit proceeds through third parties, including by transferring proceeds through Randall’s attorney to pay kickbacks to providers like Anderson, who Randall recruited to sign fraudulent prescriptions for the medications. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Niall O’Donnell and Trial Attorney Siobhan M. Namazi of the Los Angeles Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger A. Hsieh of the Central District of California.
Betzabe “Betsy” Wintermute, 55, of Malibu, California, and Dr. Sarkis Bolisajian, 58, of Los Angeles, California, were charged by indictment for their roles in a multi-million-dollar hospice fraud scheme. Both defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and multiple counts of health care fraud; Wintermute was charged with conspiracy to solicit and receive health care kickbacks, solicitation and receipt of health care kickbacks, and obstruction of criminal investigations of health care offenses; and Dr. Bolisajian was charged with making false statements in connection with a health care benefit program. As alleged in the indictment, Wintermute and Dr. Bolisajian caused hospices in Los Angeles County to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for purported hospice services that were procured by the payment of illegal kickbacks, medically unnecessary, not provided, and otherwise ineligible for reimbursement from Medicare. In total, the indictment alleges that Wintermute caused over approximately $4 million in false and fraudulent claims to be billed to Medicare, of which approximately $3.3 million was paid, and Dr. Bolisajian caused over approximately $6.9 million in false and fraudulent claims to be billed to Medicare, of which approximately $5.5 million was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sandor Callahan of the Los Angeles Strike Force.

Northern District of California

Clinton Johnson Christian, 38, of Fairfield, California, was charged by indictment with tampering with consumer products and intentionally obtaining controlled substances through deception and subterfuge in connection with diverting a controlled substance for his personal use. As alleged in the indictment, Christian accessed a machine that held hydromorphone by falsely stating a patient needed the controlled substance, removed a vial of hydromorphone, extracted the hydromorphone and re-filled the vial with saline before replacing the vial and cancelling the patient’s order. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan U. Lee of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Sevendik Huseynov, 47, a national of Azerbaijan currently residing in Sunnyvale, California and the owner and CEO of Vonyes, Inc. in Sunnyvale, California, was charged by complaint in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare Advantage Organizations (“MAOs”) on behalf of unsuspecting beneficiaries for durable medical equipment (“DME”). As alleged in the complaint, from January 15, 2025 through June 16, 2025, Huseynov, through his entity Vonyes, submitted more than 7,200 claims to at least eight separate MAOs offering Medicare Part C benefit plans, and those claims sought reimbursement of more than $137 million for DME such as back braces, knee braces, and wrist braces. The complaint alleges that certain of the purported beneficiaries contacted by law enforcement were not aware of the DME prescriptions and did not need the prescribed DME. The complaint also alleges that a health care provider listed as a referring physician on many billing claims had never prescribed DME supplied by Vonyes and that the patients listed on those claims were not his patients. The complaint also alleges that a review of bank records for Vonyes and Huseynov did not show any purchases of actual DME. At least $761,037.63 was paid to Vonyes, into accounts controlled solely by Huseynov, from MAOs during the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maya Karwande of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Patrick Omeife, 33, of Ghana, was charged by indictment with two counts of concealment money laundering in connection with a scheme to launder approximately $33,765 that was fraudulently disbursed from a federal COVID-19 relief program and intended for an optometrist whose identity had been stolen. As alleged in the indictment, Omeife, falsely purporting to be a covert agent of the U.S. government, began an online romantic relationship with a woman and requested that the woman use her bank account to receive his salary. This woman provided Omeife with her bank account information, and her account was used in a September 2020 fraudulent application for funds from the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”). The PRF provided funds to health care providers that were financially impacted by COVID-19. Based on the fraudulent September 2020 application, the PRF disbursed approximately $33,765 intended for the optometrist into the woman’s bank account. At Omeife’s direction, the woman converted the funds to Bitcoin cryptocurrency and transferred the Bitcoin to Omeife’s cryptocurrency account. Omeife repeatedly provided identifying information to his cryptocurrency exchange, to include his Republic of Ghana driver’s license and “selfie” photographs of his face and bare upper body, depicting a distinctive tattoo on his chest of the Bitcoin currency symbol. Numerous additional fraudulent PRF applications connected to the application made in the optometrist’s name resulted in at least $1.6 million of fraudulent disbursement of funds related to COVID-19 relief programs. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Babu Kaza of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina Green of the Northern District of California.
Dr. Yasmin Pirani, 46, of British Columbia, Canada, was charged by indictment with health care fraud and false statements related to health care matters in connection with a $35.2 million telemedicine fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, in exchange for payments from a telemedicine company, Dr. Pirani signed prescriptions for durable medical equipment (“DME”) that was medically unnecessary, for Medicare beneficiaries with whom she lacked a pre-existing doctor-patient relationship, without a physical examination, and without any conversation with the beneficiary or based solely on a short telephonic conversation. Dr. Pirani falsely diagnosed Medicare beneficiaries with certain conditions to support the DME prescriptions and falsely attested that the information in medical records was accurate, concealing that she did not have any interaction with the Medicare beneficiaries or that the interaction was brief and telephonic. The telemedicine company solicited illegal kickbacks and bribes from DME suppliers in exchange for DME prescriptions signed by Dr. Pirani, and the DME suppliers billed Medicare approximately $32.5 million based on Dr. Pirani’s prescriptions. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney S. Babu Kaza of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Shepard of the Northern District of California.
Vincent Thayer, 41, of San Jose, California, was charged by indictment with wire fraud, health care fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a $68 million medical office visit scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Thayer owned Patient Payment Agent, which did business as My Community Testing, and was a purported COVID-19 testing company. Through this company, Thayer caused the submission of approximately $68,205,233 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program, of which approximately $11,751,819 was paid, for office visits purportedly performed by medical professionals but that never occurred. Thayer also misappropriated the identity of a doctor to enroll his company in Medicare and Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program). The case is being prosecuted by Acting Assistant Chief Gary Winters and Trial Attorney Lauren Randell of the National Rapid Response Strike Force, Trial Attorney Matthew Belz of the Los Angeles Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Rezaei of the Northern District of California.

Southern District of California

Daniel Simons, 44, of San Diego, California, was charged by indictment with paying to induce referrals to recovery homes and clinical treatment facilities, and conspiring to do the same, in connection with substance use disorder treatment facilities owned by La Jolla Recovery, Inc. As alleged in the indictment, Simons, the Chief Executive Officer of La Jolla Recovery, Inc., paid and offered to pay body brokers to induce such referrals while concealing the illegal payments by entering into purported marketing services agreements with entities associated with those body brokers. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Manahan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

District of Connecticut

Michele Rene Luzzi Muzyka, 60, of Cheshire, Connecticut, was charged by complaint with unlawful distribution of controlled substances and false statements in connection with health care matters, in connection with her unlawful distribution of amphetamines and benzodiazepines without a legitimate medical purpose. As alleged in the complaint, Muzyka, a registered nurse, charged patients $200 in cash for visits in which she prescribed Schedule II and IV controlled substances without a legitimate medical need for those prescriptions, including to an undercover agent who posed as a Medicaid beneficiary. Muzyka declined to accept the beneficiary’s Medicaid plan and charged the beneficiary a $200 cash fee. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Boyles of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

District of Columbia

Amstrong Chapajong, 38, of Cheverly, Maryland, was charged by information with one count of health care fraud in connection with an overlapping billing scheme that defrauded the District of Columbia’s Medicaid program. As alleged in the information, from March 2020 to January 2022, Chapajong, while working as both a personal care aide and community support worker, fraudulently claimed to provide in-home personal care and behavioral health services to multiple clients in different locations at the same time. Additionally, Chapajong’s Electronic Visit Verification data often showed he was not in the vicinity of his clients’ homes, where he purported to be providing services. In total, Chapajong billed and was paid $461,369 by Medicaid for his shifts with overlapping hours. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Facci of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Michelle Shropshire, 54, of Waldorf, Maryland, and Harlisha Jones, 49, of Clinton, Maryland and Washington, DC, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent health care and disability claims to a health care benefit program. As alleged in the indictment, Shropshire, who is employed as a Train Operator with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”), conspired to submit fraudulent claims to the American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (“AFLAC”) on behalf of herself and numerous other WMATA employees, including Jones. As part of the fraudulent claim submissions, Shropshire created fraudulent medical paperwork, including medical excuse notes and physician’s statements, and forged doctors’ signatures on those forms. Then, once the WMATA employees received each claim payment from AFLAC, the employee paid a kickback to Shropshire using a portion of the claim proceeds. According to the indictment, Shropshire caused AFLAC to pay at least $362,035.14 to herself and other WMATA employees, including Jones, in fraudulent health care and disability insurance benefits. Of that amount, at least $58,750 in fraudulent insurance benefits were paid directly to Jones. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Kelly and Diane Lucas of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Selethia Blake, 53, of Waldorf, Maryland, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent health care and disability claims to a health care benefit program. As alleged in the information, Blake, who was an employee with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”), and another WMATA employee (“Co-conspirator 1”) conspired to submit fraudulent claims to the American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (“AFLAC”) on behalf of Blake. As part of the fraudulent claim submissions, Co-conspirator 1 created fraudulent medical paperwork, including medical excuse notes and physician’s statements, and forged doctors’ signatures on those forms. Then, once Blake received each claim payment from AFLAC, she paid a kickback to Co-conspirator 1 using a portion of those claim proceeds. According to the information, co-Conspirator 1 and Blake caused AFLAC to pay at least $50,698.34 to Blake in fraudulent health care and disability insurance benefits. Co-conspirator 1 has been separately charged in the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Kelly and Diane Lucas of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Margot Jackson, 52, of Hughesville, Maryland, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent health care and disability claims to a health care benefit program. As alleged in the information, Jackson, who was an employee with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”), and another WMATA employee (‘Co-conspirator 1”) conspired to submit fraudulent claims to the American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (“AFLAC”) on behalf of Jackson. As part of the fraudulent claim submissions, Co-conspirator 1 created fraudulent medical paperwork, including medical excuse notes and physician’s statements, and forged doctors’ signatures on those forms. Then, once Jackson received each claim payment from AFLAC, she paid a kickback to Co-conspirator 1 using a portion of those claim proceeds. According to the information, Shropshire and Jackson caused AFLAC to pay at least $47,686.66 to Jackson in fraudulent health care and disability insurance benefits. Co-conspirator 1 has been separately charged by indictment for her involvement in the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Kelly and Diane Lucas of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Brady Turner, 56, of Clinton, Maryland, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent health care and disability claims to a health care benefit program. As alleged in the information, Turner, who was an employee with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”), and another WMATA employee (“Co-conspirator 1”) conspired to submit fraudulent claims to the American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (“AFLAC”) on behalf of Turner. As part of the fraudulent claim submissions, Co-conspirator 1 created fraudulent medical paperwork, including medical excuse notes and physician’s statements, and forged doctors’ signatures on those forms. Then, once Turner received each claim payment from AFLAC, he paid a kickback to Co-conspirator 1 using a portion of those claim proceeds. According to the information, Co-conspirator 1 and Turner caused AFLAC to pay at least $45,673.33 to Turner in fraudulent health care and disability insurance benefits. Co-conspirator 1 has been separately charged by indictment for her involvement in the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Kelly and Diane Lucas of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Sharon Washington, 53, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent health care and disability claims to a health care benefit program. As alleged in the information, Washington, who was an employee with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”), and another WMATA employee (“Co-conspirator 1”) conspired to submit fraudulent claims to the American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (“AFLAC”) on behalf of Washington. As part of the fraudulent claim submissions, Co-conspirator 1 created fraudulent medical paperwork, including medical excuse notes and physician’s statements, and forged doctors’ signatures on those forms. Then, once Washington received each claim payment from AFLAC, she paid a kickback to Co-conspirator 1 using a portion of those claim proceeds. According to the information, Co-conspirator 1 and Washington caused AFLAC to pay at least $35,673.33 to Washington in fraudulent health care and disability insurance benefits. Co-conspirator 1 has been separately charged by indictment for her involvement in the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Kelly and Diane Lucas of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

District of Delaware

Sandra Jackson, 72, of Orlando, Florida, has agreed to pay $38,000 to resolve allegations that she violated the False Claims Act in connection with a telemedicine fraud scheme involving genetic testing and durable medical equipment. As alleged by the United States, Jackson, a nurse practitioner, knowingly approved and signed orders for medically unnecessary genetic testing and durable medical equipment for Medicare beneficiaries that she never physically examined and with whom she had no pre-existing physician-patient relationship. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Claudia L. Pare of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.
Shayasta Mufti, 45, of Bear, Delaware, was charged by complaint with violating the False Claims Act between April 2019 and November 2019 when she submitted or caused to be submitted false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic laboratory tests, for which Medicare paid approximately $565,000. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Laksin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.

Middle District of Florida

William Balsamo, 65, of Spring Hill, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks in connection with a scheme to provide doctors’ orders to pharmacies, durable medical equipment (“DME”) companies, and laboratories in exchange for kickbacks, which led to at least $9.1 million in losses to Medicare. As alleged in the information, Balsamo was the Chief Financial Officer of Call MD Plus, a telemedicine company that purported to offer software that enabled pharmacies, DME companies, and laboratories to connect patients with telemedicine doctors who performed consultations. In reality, Call MD Plus obtained signed doctors’ orders by paying kickbacks to companies that had relationships with telemedicine doctors, and then sold the orders to the pharmacies, DME companies, and laboratories (sometimes through intermediary marketers and resellers), in exchange for illegal kickbacks. The orders were used to bill for medically unnecessary prescription medication, DME, and laboratory tests. The case is being prosecuted by Acting Assistant Chief Gary A. Winters of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Mesrobian of the Middle District of Florida.
Greisys Cuellar Hernandez, 41, of Tampa, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for contributing to the filing of fraudulent insurance claims for staged traffic crashes resulting in multiple payouts by insurance companies to a physical rehabilitation clinic in Tampa, Florida. As alleged in the information, Cuellar Hernandez worked at the physical rehabilitation clinic and was involved in recruiting individuals to seek treatment at the clinic after staging traffic crashes. Cuellar Hernandez was paid approximately $52,128 for her role in the conspiracy. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Chad Monroe, 47, of Tarpon Springs, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy defraud the United States and to offer, pay, solicit, and receive health care kickbacks, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare, Medicare Advantage Plans, and TRICARE for more than $28 million for orthotic braces and to receive approximately $15 million in illegal kickbacks and bribes related to genetic testing. As alleged in the indictment, Monroe owned several durable medical equipment companies that purchased doctors’ orders for braces. Monroe was also a marketer who generated and sold doctors’ orders for genetic testing. He also is charged for submitting a false EIDL loan application and aiding and abetting in the submission of a false PPP loan. Previously, a boat purchased for over $600,000 and over $1 million from an investment account were seized. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Catherine Wagner and Trial Attorney D. Keith Clouser of the National Rapid Response Strike Force.
Anagha Onuoha a/k/a “Frank Emeka,” 61, of St. Petersburg, Florida was charged by indictment for making a false statement in a passport application and theft of government funds. According to the indictment, Onuoha, a Nigerian citizen living in the United States, obtained two social security numbers by fraudulently claiming to be a United States citizen. Using these social security numbers, Onuoha applied for, and received, benefits from the United States to which he was not entitled. As part of his scheme, Onuoha obtained more than $2.2 million in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and Medicare benefits. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Schmidt and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Del Mastro of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Paula Pirone, 68, of Ocala, Florida, and Sophie Dufort, 56, of Gainesville, Florida, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, four counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks, and three counts of paying health care kickbacks in connection with an $8.6 million durable medical equipment (“DME”) scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Pirone and Dufort owned and operated four DME companies and paid telemarketers to target Medicare beneficiaries with deceptive marketing in order to obtain signed doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary DME. Pirone and Dufort caused the submission of approximately $8,640,917 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which approximately $2,968,773 was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jody King of the Florida Strike Force.
Ricardo Ramos, 49 of Tampa, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in conducting financial transactions involving proceeds of mail fraud. As alleged in the information, Ramos was a chiropractor at a physical rehabilitation clinic in Tampa, Florida. Ramos’ co-conspirators recruited individuals to stage traffic accidents, file false police reports related to the staged traffic crashes, and then seek treatment at the clinic where Ramos worked. Ramos performed evaluations on the recruited individuals and directed them to report high levels of pain in order to diagnose purported injuries and prescribe future treatments. However, in some instances, no evaluations were performed at all and Ramos still generated diagnoses to facilitate the filing of fraudulent insurance claims. Ramos also completed medical forms with prescriptions for durable medical equipment based on the fake injuries. These false claims were submitted to insurance companies and resulted in the insurance companies sending payments in the form of checks to the clinic where Ramos worked. These funds were then used to compensate Ramos and the recruited individuals for their roles in the scheme. As a result of the conspiracy, Ramos obtained approximately $169,150. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Eric Strom Holland, 55, of Fort Myers, Florida, was charged by complaint with wire fraud and distributing and dispensing controlled substances in connection with an alleged scheme to deceive doctors into writing controlled substance prescriptions based on false pretenses. As alleged in the complaint, Holland recruited unwitting doctors for his all-virtual pain clinic using a number of lies designed to induce them to work for him and to prescribe controlled substances, including oxycodone. These lies included that the pain clinic had a physical location (when in fact all operations during the pertinent periods were purely virtual), that patients were being physically examined by medical practitioners, such as nurse practitioners, before doctors were asked to prescribe, that there were long-term doctors with whom the patients had a standing relationship and that the temporary doctors were just refilling prescriptions as part of an established regimen of care, and that safeguards to prevent against drug abuse, such as urine screens, were being used. Holland’s scheme resulted in the improper dispensing of more than 103,000 pills of oxycodone with a street value of more than $4.4 million. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin S. Winter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Northern District of Florida

Alexandra M. Christensen, 31, Lindsay N. McCray a/k/a “Lindsay Rogers,” 41, Heather T. Bradley a/k/a “Heather Thomas,” 36, and Jennifer E. Purves, 39, all of Pensacola, Florida, were charged by indictment. Christensen and McCray were charged with conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances, McCray, Bradley, and Purves were charged with distribution of controlled substances, and McCray was charged with identity theft in connection with a scheme to unlawfully divert oxycodone, hydrocodone, and amphetamine. As alleged in the indictment, between 2015 and 2024, McCray, while employed by a medical practice, forged controlled substance prescriptions using the names, signatures, and Drug Enforcement Administration registration numbers of the practice’s two physicians without their knowledge or authorization. As a result of the conspiracy, McCray, Christensen, and others caused to be unlawfully distributed and dispensed over 300,000 hydrocodone pills and over 30,000 oxycodone pills. McCray is further charged with distributing and aiding and abetting the distribution of amphetamine with Bradley and Purves. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia H. Forbes of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.

Southern District of Florida

Jean Jethro Alexandre, 44, of Haiti, Cheyenne Twinette Early, 30, of Plantation, Florida, and Sheere Antoinette Proctor, 51, of Plantation, Florida, were charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Alexandre, Early, and Proctor were the owners, operators and managers of CMJ Health Group, Inc. (“CMJ”), located in Miami Gardens, Florida, and The Proctor Medical Group (“TPMG”), located in Pompano Beach, Florida. CMJ and TPMG purported to operate as medical clinics providing health care services to individuals for the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (“STDs”), including human immunodeficiency virus (“HIV”) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (“AIDS”). In reality, defendants and their co-conspirators ran CMJ and TPMG as prescription mills for drugs intended to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, which CMJ acquired at significant discounts from drug manufacturers through its participation in the 340B Drug Pricing Program (the “340B Program”). The defendants and their co-conspirators exploited the 340B Program by, among other things, paying kickbacks to patient recruiters and purported patients to furnish prescriptions for 340B drugs; falsifying dispensing records; destroying 340B drugs before they were provided to any person; and using the fraud proceeds for their personal benefit. In furtherance of the conspiracy, the defendants submitted approximately $58.1 million in false and fraudulent claims to health care programs including Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Snider of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.
Jorge Luis Almansa, 53, and Christian Cruz a/k/a “Chris Cruz,” 44, both of Pompano Beach, Florida, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud and health care fraud for submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for the provision of medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (“DME”) to Medicare beneficiaries. As alleged in the indictment, Almansa and Cruz, along with their co-conspirators, through their company, Brace Yourself, submitted and caused the submission of approximately $11,417,462 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which approximately $3,712,345 was paid and which Almansa and Cruz then distributed to themselves and their co-conspirators. The indictment alleges that Almansa and Cruz, through Brace Yourself, paid marketing companies for referrals of Medicare beneficiaries for medically unnecessary DME. The marketers used telemedicine companies to obtain doctors’ orders prescribing DME to beneficiaries who had never been seen by the prescribing doctor, which Brace Yourself would then use to bill Medicare. In some instances, the marketers generated doctors’ orders that included the electronic signature of a beneficiary’s own doctor without that doctor’s permission or authorization. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Demirci is handling asset forfeiture.
Sean J. Alterman, 37, of Lake Worth, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks in connection with a $52 million scheme to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic testing. As alleged in the information, Alterman owned two laboratories through which he billed Medicare for doctors’ orders that he procured through kickbacks. Specifically, he paid call center operators to generate the orders by running deceptive telemarketing campaigns to persuade the Medicare beneficiaries to agree to the tests. The call centers then would “doctor chase” the beneficiaries’ physicians to sign orders for the tests by sending them faxes containing false, fraudulent, and misleading representations designed to induce them into ordering the tests. Approximately $52 was fraudulently billed to Medicare as part of the scheme, and Medicare paid approximately $36 million based on those false and fraudulent claims. Alterman is forfeiting his primary residence located in Lake Worth, Florida, and his 2022 Rolls Royce Ghost as assets traceable to proceeds of the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Reginald Cuyler Jr. and Aisha Schafer Hylton of the Florida Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.
Ismaray Alvarez Larzabal, 38, of Cape Coral, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with two fraudulent durable medical equipment (“DME”) companies which defrauded Medicare and Medicaid in the approximate amount of $8 million for DME that was medically unnecessary and not being provided as represented. As alleged in the indictment, Larzabal was the manager and registered agent of Larzabal Remodeling Services, LLC, which she used to launder approximately $615,078 of fraud proceeds into the company’s bank account and her personal bank accounts. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Canzio of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with assistance from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitch Hyman is handling asset forfeiture.
Noris Artola, 64, and Ailyn Francisco, 40, both of Miami, Florida, were charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud for submitting false and fraudulent claims to the Medicare Part D Program on behalf of Miami-based US Hwy 1 Pharmacy Inc for the provision of prescription drugs to Medicare beneficiaries that were medically unnecessary and, in many cases, never provided. As a result of these false and fraudulent claims, the Medicare Part D Program and Medicare drug plan sponsors paid US Hwy 1 Pharmacy Inc approximately $784,903. FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Demirci is handling asset forfeiture.
Susan Braddock, 63, of Fort Worth, Texas, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a $26.4 million Medicare fraud scheme. As alleged in the information, Braddock owned and operated a telemedicine company called Big Easy Bad Dog (“BEBD”) through which she billed Medicare for telemedicine consultations that were medically unnecessary, ineligible for Medicare reimbursement, and not provided as billed. Through BEBD, Braddock also sold doctors’ orders to laboratories for medically unnecessary genetic tests based on the purported telehealth consultations. BEBD and the laboratories submitted approximately $24,666,245 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare as a result of Braddock’s conduct, and Medicare paid approximately $9,581,330 based on these claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Reginald Cuyler Jr. and Owen Dunn of the Florida Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Hyman of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.
Patrick Buchanan, 39, of Broward County, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Buchanan was the registered owner of Sigma Institute of Health Careers, Inc., located in Lauderhill, Florida. As alleged, Buchanan participated in a conspiracy to sell fraudulent nursing diplomas and transcripts to individuals seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Clark of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grasnoff is handling asset forfeiture.
Juan Carlos Cardella, 60, of Miami, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiring to sell and distribute Medicare beneficiary identifier numbers, possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleges that beginning around June 2022, Cardella conspired with others to obtain confidential patient information from a regional health care provider based in Miami-Dade County, in order to sell the patient names, dates of birth, and Medicare beneficiary numbers of those patients to unauthorized individuals. The indictment further alleges that on multiple occasions, including as recently as November 14, 2024 and February 11, 2025, Cardella sold patient lists of more than 100 Medicare beneficiaries for approximately $7,000 per list. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Gardea, Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.
Jose Ramon Chang Moreno, 38, of Miami, Florida, owner of Quantum Complete Inc. (“Quantum”) was charged via complaint with health care fraud. The complaint alleges that Chang Moreno carried out a scheme to fraudulently bill approximately $9,403,423 worth of wound care products, on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries that never received and did not need them, and that Quantum received approximately $4,980,418 in fraudulently induced reimbursements from Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Shaw.
Richard Weldon Crowder II, 59, of Miami, Florida, the true owner of New Day Health Solutions (“New Day”), Liberty Medical Supply (“Liberty”), and RNK Medical Supply Inc. (“RNK”) in Boca Raton, Florida, was charged by criminal information. The information alleges the defendant with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, for conducting a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare on behalf of unsuspecting beneficiaries for durable medical equipment (“DME”). The information alleges that, in addition to naming another employee as the listed owner of New Day, Liberty, and RNK, in order to hide his own ownership of the companies, the defendant also conspired with others to enlist the services of telemedicine doctors who would sign off on medically unnecessary DME prescriptions for the Medicare beneficiaries. The information alleges that, from June 2022 through September 2022, New Day, Liberty, and RNK received approximately $381,703 in fraudulently induced reimbursements from Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Gardea, Jr., of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.
Ernesto Davila, 52, of Miami, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks to patients. Davila, as the registered owner of the clinic Florida Behavior Health, Inc., participated in a conspiracy to pay patients illegal kickbacks to attend psychosocial rehabilitation services at the clinic. Davila and his co-conspirators caused approximately $1,264,974 in claims to be submitted to Medicaid for the services purportedly provided to the recruited patients. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Abraham of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with assistance from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon is handling asset forfeiture.
Sergio De La Noval, 54, of Miami Lakes, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks to patients. As alleged in the indictment, De La Noval, as a beneficial owner of the clinic Florida Behavior Health, Inc., participated in a conspiracy to pay patients illegal kickbacks to attend psychosocial rehabilitation services at the clinic. De La Noval and his co-conspirators caused approximately $1,264,974 in claims to be submitted to Medicaid for the services purportedly provided to the recruited patients. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Abraham of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with assistance from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon is handling asset forfeiture.
Lazaro Delgado, 59, of Miami, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The information alleges that Delgado participated, along with other co-conspirators, in a scheme to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid on behalf of unsuspecting beneficiaries. The information alleges that Delgado acted as an intermediary to place a nominal owner as the head of Hucel Custom Med Inc. (“Hucel”), while other co-conspirators coordinated the false and fraudulent claims for durable medical equipment products that the beneficiaries did not need. The information alleges that, from January 2022 through at least July 2022, Hucel submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for approximately $9 million of orthotic braces, of which approximately $1.8 million was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Gardea, Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.
Erit Estrada Espinosa, 52, of Miami, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and two counts of distributing a controlled substance. The indictment alleges that, between April 2022 and October 2022, the defendant conspired with others to distribute oxycodone. The indictment further alleges that the defendant distributed 160 tablets of 30mg oxycodone on September 23, 2022, and 145 tablets of 30mg oxycodone on October 21, 2022. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Thor Pogozelski of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Caleb Espinoza, 58, of Weston, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States. As alleged in the information, Espinoza created and enrolled with Medicare a series of durable medical equipment (“DME”) companies that he then sold to various conspirators who desired to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare. Espinoza and his co-conspirators falsified Medicare enrollment forms and other records to conceal the true ownership and management of the DME companies, which enabled the true owners who purchased the DME companies to immediately submit claims to Medicare. The DME companies that Espinoza sold as part of the conspiracy submitted false and fraudulent claims totaling approximately $21,635,791 for orthotic braces and wound dressings that were medically unnecessary, ineligible for Medicare reimbursement, and not provided as billed. Medicare paid approximately $9,197,220 based on these claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Angela J. Benoit, with substantial assistance from Trial Attorney Jessica Massey, of the Florida Strike Force.
Christopher Harwood, 43, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to solicit and receive health care kickbacks, and solicitation and receipt of health care kickbacks, in connection with a $46.2 million scheme to generate and sell signed doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (“DME”) and laboratory tests. As alleged in the indictment, Harwood and his co-conspirators used telemarketing companies to target Medicare beneficiaries, and then Harwood arranged for medical providers to sign doctors’ orders for DME and laboratory tests for the beneficiaries regardless of medical necessity, in the absence of a doctor-patient relationship, without a physical examination, and frequently without even speaking to the beneficiary at all. Harwood solicited and received illegal kickbacks and bribes from purported marketers and the owners of DME companies and laboratories for the signed doctors’ orders. Harwood also acquired, managed, and operated multiple DME supply companies and used the doctors’ orders he generated to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. In total, Harwood and his co-conspirators submitted more than $46.2 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, and Medicare paid $17.9 million based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Owen Dunn of the Florida Strike Force and Jennifer Burns of the National Rapid Response Strike Force. Trial Attorney Evan Schlom of the Special Matters Unit provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.
Dr. Sergei Margulian, 58, of Hallandale Beach, Florida, and Damary Mendez, 53, of Miami, Florida, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and multiple counts of distributing a controlled substance. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants conspired to distribute at least 2,933,013 pills of oxycodone to patients of two pain clinics located in South Florida, ignoring obvious signs of addiction and drug-diversion in these patients. Dr. Margulian, a licensed medical doctor who owned and operated the clinics, prescribed oxycodone to patients without medical need and on dates when he was out of the country and did not see or examine the patients. Mendez, an employee of the clinics, sent Dr. Margulian lists of patients’ names, dates of birth, and the number of pills of oxycodone to prescribe to them, knowing that Dr. Margulian had neither seen nor examined those patients on that date and knowing that Dr. Margulian would write electronic prescriptions for oxycodone to them. The defendants charged patients cash fees for these visits, whether or not the patient saw a doctor. Approximately $74,000 was seized from the clinics and related bank accounts. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jacqueline DerOvanesian of the Florida Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture. This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (“OCDETF”) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Irakli Nakashidze, 34, of Miami, Florida, was charged by complaint with money laundering for his role in a $113 million health care fraud scheme. As alleged in the complaint, Nakashidze owned ABRH Care Inc., a durable medical equipment company that submitted over $113,013,075 in claims to Medicare Advantage Organizations for orthotic braces, wound dressings, and continuous glucose monitors that beneficiaries did not need or receive, of which approximately $7,484,788 was paid. Nakashidze laundered over $200,000 in proceeds from these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Claire Horrell and Angela Benoit of the Florida Strike Force.
John R. Robinson Jr., 35, of Boca Raton, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to solicit and receive health care kickbacks in connection with a $61.5 million scheme to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic testing. As alleged in the information, Robinson owned a call center through which he sold doctors’ orders for genetic tests to laboratories by running deceptive telemarketing campaigns to persuade the Medicare beneficiaries to agree to the tests. His call center then would “doctor chase” the beneficiaries’ physicians to sign orders for the tests by sending them faxes containing false, fraudulent, and misleading representations designed to induce them into ordering the tests. Approximately $61.5 was fraudulently billed to Medicare as part of the scheme, and Medicare paid approximately $44 million based on those false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Reginald Cuyler Jr. and Aisha Schafer Hylton of the Florida Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.
Onel Marquez Rodriguez, 55, of Miami, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit money laundering involving health care fraud proceeds, and money laundering of health care fraud proceeds. The indictment alleges that between June 2019 and December 2023, the defendant, with others, laundered approximately $4,341,676 in health care fraud payments from health care companies and shell companies through hundreds of checks written to several money laundering companies. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Cruz of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Paster is handling asset forfeiture.
Marco Antonio Rosas Scamarone a/k/a “King Po,” 33, Renee Vazquez a/k/a “King Jungle,” 32, and Roberto Vasquez Morales, 32, all of Tamarac, Florida, and Jose Cristobal Mendez a/k/a “BayBay,” 33, of Coral Springs, Florida, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare approximately $6.8 million for durable medical equipment (“DME”) that was medically unnecessary and procured through the payment of kickbacks and bribes to marketers, including to an offshore call center. Scamarone, Mendez, and Vazquez were also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and multiple counts of money laundering for their roles laundering the proceeds of the fraud through shell companies. As alleged in the indictment, Scamarone and Mendez purchased two DME companies, Braces and Orthotics LLC and Stone Oak Durable Medical Equipment, LLC, and concealed their ownership of these companies from Medicare by employing Vazquez and another individual to serve as the listed owners of the companies. Scamarone and Morales paid kickbacks and bribes to co-conspirators, including one who operated an offshore call center based in the Philippines, to obtain Medicare beneficiary information and doctors’ orders used to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary DME. Medicare paid approximately $2,685,000 based on the false and fraudulent claims submitted. Scamarone, Mendez, and Vazquez then used shell companies held in the names of friends and relatives to launder fraud proceeds from the DME companies. Scamarone and Vazquez also concealed their involvement by making cash withdrawals from various accounts, including a $50,000 cash withdrawal from an account for Stone Oak. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Jamie de Boer of the Florida Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Thor Pogozelski of the Southern District of Florida, with substantial assistance from Trial Attorneys Jessica Massey and Claire Horrell of the Florida Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove is handling asset forfeiture. This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (“OCDETF”) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Dave Sudarshan Singh, 37, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, health care fraud, and money laundering for submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for over the counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests for Medicare beneficiaries who had not requested the tests, including some claims where the Medicare beneficiaries were actually deceased. Between April 4, 2022, and May 11, 2023, Medicare covered up to eight OTC COVID-19 tests per month for Medicare beneficiaries who requested them. As alleged in the indictment, Singh, along with his co-conspirators, through his business, MDP Products and Services, Inc., submitted and caused the submission of approximately $14,112,672 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which approximately $13,007,376 was paid, for OTC COVID-19 tests that the Medicare beneficiaries did not request and were not eligible for reimbursement. The indictment alleges that Singh and his co-conspirators paid marketing companies kickbacks and bribes in exchange for Medicare beneficiary information needed to bill for OTC COVID-19 tests. The indictment also alleges that Singh engaged in a $198,160 transaction using health care fraud proceeds at a Mercedes dealership and seeks to forfeit a 2021 White Mercedes G63. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Abraham of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with assistance from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon is handling asset forfeiture.
Eduardo Tieles Ruiz, 43, of Miami, Florida, was charged by indictment with health care fraud. Tieles Ruiz was the owner of the clinic Newtech Medical Supply, LLC (“Newtech”) located in Margate, Florida. The indictment alleges that, between March 2022 and September 2022, the Tieles Ruiz, through Newtech, submitted $2,946,910 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for durable medical equipment that was medically unnecessary or not provided, of which approximately $1,310,277 was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Abraham of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with assistance from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon is handling asset forfeiture.
Jacquez Dion Tullis, 41, of Tamarac, Florida, Taneka Nakia Pace, 49, of Miami, Florida, and Junaque Nicole Tullis, a/k/a “Juanaque Tullis,” 44, of Coral Springs, Florida, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud financial institutions out of approximately $1,780,000 through the submission of fraudulent credit applications for cosmetic surgery and other medical services that were never provided. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants created six cosmetic surgery clinics and then submitted applications on behalf of those clinics to become approved merchants with financial institutions with lending programs that provided lines of credit to individuals seeking funding for out-of-pocket medical care, treatments, and services not covered by insurance. The defendants then used the personal identifying information of individuals without their authorization or consent to submit credit applications to those financial institutions on behalf of those individuals, falsely certifying that the clinics would provide cosmetic surgery and related medical care to them. In fact, the clinics never provided any such medical care, nor did the individuals on whose behalf the clinics submitted credit applications need or want any such treatments. The defendants are also charged with individual counts of wire fraud for submitting fraudulent loan applications on behalf of the clinics and another business to the Small Business Administration for small business loans designed to provide emergency financial assistance to businesses suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Demirci is handling asset forfeiture.
Marlen Veliz Rios, 58, of Hialeah, Florida, was charged via indictment with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment alleges that Veliz Rios, owner of Loves Community Health Mental Health Inc. (“Loves”), carried out a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for approximately $15,349,089 for wound care and skin graft products that were medically unnecessary and not provided, of which approximately $10,033,562 was paid. Further, the indictment alleges that upon receipt of the fraud proceeds, Veliz Rios caused bank transfers from the Loves bank account to the accounts of shell companies that she also controlled. The indictment alleges that Veliz Rios did this in order to launder the funds by issuing checks from the shell company accounts in the name of third party companies and individuals, in order to distribute the cash back to Veliz Rios’ co-conspirators for their personal use and benefit. As a result of this broader investigation, the government has already seized more than $4,600,000 in fraud proceeds from the various accounts involved in this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Gardea, Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.
Olushola Yusuf, 59, and Saman Cala Gimenez, 53, both of Tampa, Florida, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and five counts each of distributing and dispensing a controlled substance in connection with their roles in a scheme to illegally dispense oxycodone through two pharmacies, Boots LLC d/b/a Striderite Pharmacy (“Boots”) and Chans Pharmacy Plus, Inc. (“Chans”). As alleged in the indictment, the defendants, through Boots and Chans, dispensed at least 335,351 pills of oxycodone 30mg, which is highly addictive and dangerous, to patients of Boots and Chans who showed obvious signs of addiction and drug-diversion. Yusuf, a licensed pharmacist who owned and operated Boots and Chans, dispensed oxycodone to nearly all of Boots’ and Chans’ patients without medical need and also dispensed to patient recruiters, including Gimenez. Gimenez purchased numerous prescriptions for oxycodone from multiple patients to fill at Boots and Chans in order to aggregate the pills. Patients and patient recruiters often paid Boots and Chans in cash even though they had insurance that covered some or all of the cost of prescription medications. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jacqueline DerOvanesian of the Florida Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.
Approximately $1,008,709.82 in U.S. Currency Seized From Account No. 9116035605 at Citibank, N.A., in the Name of Florida Med Equip Corp., a civil asset forfeiture action, was brought by complaint against $1,008,709.42 in health care fraud proceeds seized from the bank account of Florida corporation Florida Med Equip Corp. (“Florida Med”), located in Sunrise, Florida. As alleged, between January 2022 and September 2022, Florida Med submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for durable medical equipment that was medically unnecessary and not provided as represented. Many providers and Medicare beneficiaries told law enforcement that they did not prescribe, receive, request, or need any of the medical equipment that Florida Med cited when it billed Medicare. Medicare paid approximately $1,163,967 to Florida Med, and law enforcement seized $1,008,709. This case is being prosecuted by Asset Forfeiture Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabrielle Raemy Charest-Turken in the Southern District of Florida.

Middle District of Georgia

Elizabeth Sue Ivester, 62, of Warner Robins, Georgia, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, and aggravated identity theft, in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud Medicaid of over $5.4 million for durable medical equipment (“DME”) that was neither ordered nor supplied to Medicaid recipients. As alleged in the indictment, Ivester, the owner and operator of Liberty Medical, Inc., used illegally obtained Medicaid recipients’ identification numbers received from unindicted co-conspirators to submit fraudulent claims by falsely representing that one physician ordered 77,095 pieces of DME that were not ordered by the physician and never delivered to the Medicaid recipients. This case is being prosecuted by Tarrea D. Williams of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, in her capacity as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

Northern District of Illinois

Dr. Anosh Ahmed, 41, of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Mohamed Sirajudeen, 53, of Chicago, Illinois, and Mahmood Sami Khan, 36, and Suhaib Ahmad Chaudhry, 34, both of Houston, Texas, were indicted for their roles in an $894 million fraudulent COVID-19 testing scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Ahmed, Sirajudeen, and Khan caused clinical laboratories in Illinois and Texas to submit false and fraudulent claims to the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program seeking reimbursement in the amount of approximately $894,520,064 for COVID-19 testing, of which approximately $293,221,468 was paid. Dr. Ahmed was a physician who used patient information obtained from a variety of sources, including a patient list from a hospital where he previously worked, to generate false claims that were submitted through a laboratory in Illinois. Dr. Ahmed falsely represented that the identifiers were associated with uninsured individuals who had submitted biological samples for COVID-19 testing, knowing that the purported patients had not submitted any samples. Dr. Ahmed also submitted false claims through laboratories in Texas that he owned, which were not operational. Dr. Ahmed, Sirajudeen, Khan, and Chaudhry then laundered the fraud proceeds through various bank accounts to conceal the origin of the funds. Dr. Ahmed and Khan are charged with wire fraud and, along with Chaudhry, with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Dr. Ahmed was also charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive kickbacks, violating HIPAA, and concealment money laundering. Sirajudeen was charged with concealment money laundering. A Rolls Royce Phantom and approximately $104,025,298 in cash from bank and investment accounts have been seized in this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Claire Sobczak Pacelli of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sheri Mecklenburg and Kelly Guzman of the Northern District of Illinois.
Ruknuddin “Rick” Charolia, 43, Aamir Ali Arif, 32, Shearyar Arif, 28, and Fizza Farid, 29, all of Pakistan, were charged by indictment for their roles in a $703 million health care fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, they caused the submission of $703,834,742 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits, durable medical equipment (“DME”), and genetic tests that patients never requested, received, or consented to receive. Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans paid $418,646,326 based on these claims. As further alleged, Charolia and Aamir Ali Arif operated a Pakistan-based call center, Hello International Marketing Solutions (“HIMS”), that obtained Medicare beneficiary data through hacking, scraping publicly accessible websites, and creating deceptive websites that convinced beneficiaries to provide their information by falsely advertising free health care products. Charolia and Aamir Ali Arif, through HIMS, then used artificial intelligence to fabricate recordings that purportedly demonstrated Medicare beneficiaries consenting to receive over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits. Charolia, Shearyar Arif, and Aamir Ali Arif also recruited others, including Farid, to serve as nominee owners of DME supply companies and laboratories used to submit false claims and transfer fraud proceeds to accounts controlled by the defendants. Additionally, Charolia, Aamir Ali Arif, and Faizan Saleem, 28, also a Pakistani citizen, were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and violating the Anti-Kickback Statute for selling and distributing stolen Medicare beneficiary data. Last, all five defendants were charged with participating in a money laundering conspiracy for concealing the source, location, and use of the fraud proceeds. The Government seized approximately $44.7 million from various bank accounts related to this case. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Kelly M. Warner and Claire Sobczak Pacelli of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jasmina Vajzovic of the Northern District of Illinois.
Jamil Elkoussa, 35, of Lebanon, was charged by indictment with five counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program. As alleged in the indictment, Elkoussa operated Meridian Medical Staffing, which purported to collect specimens for COVID-19 PCR tests at numerous testing sites in Illinois and Florida. Elkoussa caused a laboratory to submit approximately $233 million in fraudulent claims to the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program for COVID-19 PCR tests on specimens purportedly collected from patients, even though Elkoussa knew that such specimens had not been collected from the purported patients, and many of those patients did not exist. Elkoussa’s fraudulent conduct resulted in approximately $154 million in HRSA payments to the laboratory, of which Elkoussa received approximately $60.3 million. Approximately $6 million in assets have been seized in this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Claire Sobczak Pacelli of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Guzman of the Northern District of Illinois.
Cher Farley, 52, of Earlville, Illinois, was charged by information with misbranding, in connection with her acquisition of foreign-sourced drugs labeled as Botox and Sotox and dispensing of those drugs without a prescription. As alleged in the information, Farley, who was a registered nurse, caused foreign-sourced Botox and Sotox without proper labeling to be introduced into interstate commerce from China and dispensed these drugs without a prescription to multiple victims. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Kelly of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Minhaj Feroz Muhammad, 37, and Sufyan Feroze, 34, both of Naperville, Illinois, were charged by indictment for their involvement in a $72 million laboratory testing scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Muhammad and Feroze were involved in the operation of FZ Medical Inc., a laboratory in Des Plaines, Illinois. Muhammad is charged with health care fraud for causing the submission of approximately $72,526,711 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for COVID-19 laboratory testing services that were not provided, for which FZ Medical Inc. received at least approximately $9,783,503. Feroze, who controlled the FZ Medical bank account, is charged with money laundering for withdrawing health care fraud proceeds to obtain a cashier’s check made payable to himself. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kelly M. Warner of the Midwest Strike Force.

District of Idaho

Bloom Care, LLC, and its owners Spencer Smith and Michael Weir, have agreed to pay $3,000,000 to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act related to their billing protocols during the Covid-19 pandemic. As alleged, Bloom used the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse for billing medically unnecessary streptococcus and influenza tests for asymptomatic patients. As further alleged, Bloom submitted claims for high-level evaluation and management services for Covid-19 patients when Bloom knew that the services should have been billed at a lower level of service that would have been reimbursed at a lower rate. To justify these high reimbursement claims, Bloom allegedly exaggerated the time spent with Covid-19 patients and/or the complexity of the evaluation required to care for these patients. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Wertheim of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.

Eastern District of Kentucky

Family Discount Drugs, PLLC, located in Middlesboro, Kentucky, has agreed to pay the United States $750,000 to resolve civil allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing the Medicare Part D Program for (1) drugs that were not actually purchased from wholesalers or dispensed to beneficiaries, (2) brand-name drugs when generic drugs were dispensed, and/or (3) generic drugs when less expensive generic versions manufactured by a different manufacturer were dispensed. The United States resolved the civil allegations during its investigation and did not file the case in federal court. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Stubblebine of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Western District of Kentucky

Ashley Barnett, 41, of Louisville, Kentucky, Laura Webb, 37, of Springfield, Kentucky, and Rachel Goldstein, 43, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, were charged by information. According to the information, Barnett and Webb, both doctors of veterinary medicine, were charged in a conspiracy to illegally use a DEA registration number issued to another. In addition, Barnett and Goldstein were charged with conspiracy to obtain a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge. As part of the conspiracy, Barnett, Goldstein, and others conspired to issue prescriptions for over 25,000 Schedule II controlled substances, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, in the names of various canines, including some deceased and fictitious canines, when in reality, Barnett and Goldstein were the recipients of the controlled substances. Barnett was also charged with theft of medical products for taking and concealing buprenorphine from her employer prior to the controlled substances being made available for retail purchase by a consumer. Finally, Barnett and Goldstein were charged with health care fraud in connection with a scheme whereby Barnett requested Goldstein fill Goldstein’s dextroamphetamine prescription, a Schedule II controlled substance, and provide it to Barnett. Goldstein caused the submission of the claim for the dextroamphetamine prescription to Medicaid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Ansari of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
Kristina Coomer, 43, of Louisville, Kentucky, was charged by information with theft of medical products. According to the information, Coomer, an employee of a retail pharmacy in the supply chain for oxycodone, took, carried away, and concealed oxycodone from the pharmacy, prior to the controlled substances being made available for retail purchase by a consumer. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Ansari of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
Matthew Ryan Elkins, 40, of Crestwood, Kentucky, was charged by indictment with tampering with consumer products, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit, and burglary involving controlled substances. According to the indictment, Elkins, an advanced practice registered nurse-certified registered nurse anesthetist, tampered with one pre-filled, capped syringe containing fentanyl citrate and bupivacaine, prescribed to a patient by removing a portion of the listed ingredients and replaced it with another liquid. Elkins was also charged with obtaining and attempting to obtain three injectable vials containing a quantity of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, by misrepresentation, deception, and subterfuge. Finally, Elkins was charged with burglary involving controlled substances when he entered a business registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration with the intent to steal any material and compound containing any quantity of a controlled substance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin McKenzie of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.

Eastern District of Louisiana

Zoe Francis, 46, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was charged by information with theft concerning programs receiving federal funds in connection with her role in embezzling funds from the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies (“IWES”), a non-profit organization based in New Orleans that received grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal funds. As alleged in the information, Francis, as the chief operating officer of IWES, embezzled the funds for the benefit of herself and family members, including unauthorized expenditures for personal events and Amazon purchases. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Gary A. Crosby II of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas D. Moses of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Dr. Marion Lee, 61, of Cordelle, Georgia, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare approximately $24 million for medically unnecessary genetic testing, and to pay and receive kickbacks. As alleged in the information, Dr. Lee, co-owner of and medical advisor to Luminus Diagnostics, a diagnostic laboratory located in Tifton, Georgia, conspired with others to procure orders for genetic testing in exchange for kickbacks, including orders acquired through purported telemedicine. To ensure the false and fraudulent claims would be paid, Dr. Lee and his co-conspirators allegedly designed the genetic testing order forms to be “dummy proof”—with prepopulated diagnosis codes and check-the-box panels—and frequently billed the tests through another laboratory where co-conspirators thought the claims were more likely to be approved, which they concealed via a sham contract, among other deceptive means. Dr. Lee and his co-conspirators caused the submission of over $24 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for genetic testing, and Medicare paid approximately $4 million based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Kelly Z. Walters of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Moses of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Steven D. Peyroux, 56, of Canton, Georgia, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and two counts of health care fraud in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare approximately $12.1 million for over-the-counter (“OTC”) COVID-19 tests that were not requested and ineligible for reimbursement. As alleged in the indictment, Peyroux, a chiropractor and purported health care consultant, conspired with others to pay kickbacks in exchange for Medicare beneficiary information nationwide, including names, Medicare identification numbers, and clearly fabricated recordings of individuals posing as beneficiaries and requesting OTC COVID-19 tests, which they used to bill Medicare for OTC COVID-19 tests that were not requested. In an attempt to avoid Medicare scrutiny, the indictment alleged that Peyroux and co-conspirators solicited multiple providers to join the scheme, who they directed to enter into sham agreements and make false statements in response to Medicare audits, to conceal the misconduct. Peyroux and his co-conspirators caused the submission of approximately $12.1 million in false and fraudulent claims, of which Medicare paid approximately $11 million. The case is being prosecuted by Kelly Z. Walters of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Moses of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Leland Roberts, 46, of Tifton, Georgia, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare for over $30 million for medically unnecessary genetic testing, and to pay and receive kickbacks. As alleged in the indictment, Roberts, co-owner, chief executive officer of, and (later) consultant to Luminus Diagnostics, a diagnostic laboratory located in Tifton, Georgia, conspired with others to procure orders for genetic testing in exchange for kickbacks, including orders acquired through purported telemedicine. To ensure the false and fraudulent claims would be paid, Roberts and his co-conspirators allegedly designed the genetic testing order forms to be “dummy proof”—with prepopulated diagnosis codes and check-the-box panels—and frequently billed the tests through another laboratory where co-conspirators thought the claims were more likely to be approved, which they concealed via a sham contract. Roberts and his co-conspirators caused the submission of over $30 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for genetic testing, and Medicare paid approximately $4.4 million based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Kelly Z. Walters of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Moses of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Middle District of Louisiana

Cody Hulbert, 41, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and theft of government funds in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) program, and unemployment insurance applications. As alleged in the indictment, Hulbert and her co-conspirators fraudulently obtained at least approximately $51,474 from the fraudulent PPP applications, sought at least approximately $12,391 from at least one fraudulent EIDL application, and obtained at least approximately $5,654 in unemployment insurance benefits. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Gary A. Crosby II of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen L. Craig of the Middle District of Louisiana.
Britney McCoy, 31, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged by indictment with one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements in a loan and credit application in connection with a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) scheme. As alleged in the indictment, McCoy submitted and caused to be submitted false and fraudulent loan applications and other documents to lenders and others to obtain funds and loan forgiveness through the PPP. In total, McCoy fraudulently sought and obtained at least approximately $22,884 in PPP funds based on the false and fraudulent applications. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Gary A. Crosby II of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen L. Craig of the Middle District of Louisiana.

District of Maine

Joseph Dobie, 36, of Lewiston, Maine, was charged by complaint with aggravated identity theft, false statements relating to health care matters, and unlawful use of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits, in connection with an identity theft scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Scott of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.

District of Massachusetts

Krishna Gidwani, 55, of Canton, Massachusetts, was charged by information with health care fraud conspiracy in connection with a durable medical equipment (“DME”) fraud scheme whereby the defendants defrauded Medicare of more than $4 million by submitting claims for DME that was medically unnecessary, not wanted by the Medicare beneficiaries, and was tainted by kickbacks. As alleged in the information, Gidwani worked with Raju Sharma (who is separately charged for his role in the scheme), to own and operate DME companies that paid telemarketing companies for DME orders for orthotics such as ankle, wrist, knee, and back braces. Often, the Medicare beneficiaries did not need or want the braces the defendants shipped them, and, as further alleged in the information, the doctors whose signatures appeared on these DME orders often did not treat these beneficiaries and did not prescribe the DME. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren A. Graber and Sarah B. Hoefle of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Eastern District of Michigan

Usman Ahmad, 66, of Lake, Orion, Michigan; Durand Bynum, 46, of Canton, Michigan; Ebony Daniels, 33, of Eastpointe, Michigan; and Allen Satawhite, 37, of Detroit, Michigan were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to distribute and distribution of controlled substances in connection with their roles in an unlawful scheme to distribute Schedule II controlled substances oxycodone, oxycodone-acetaminophen (Percocet); and hydrocodone-acetaminophen (Norco). As alleged in the indictment, the owner of P & A Aftercare, located in Southfield, Michigan, hired several doctors to issue controlled substance prescriptions for a cadre of “fake” patients, without medical necessity and outside the scope of professional medical practice, in exchange for cash payments. The “fake” patients were recruited by Bynum, Daniels, Satawhite and others. Ahmad, a licensed pharmacist, owned and operated Detroit Hoover Pharmacy, in Detroit, Michigan. He used the pharmacy to engage in a scheme and pattern of illegal conduct involving the unlawful distribution of prescription drug-controlled substances issued by the doctors at P & A Aftercare. Specifically, Ahmad distributed prescription drugs from the pharmacy illegally, outside the course of usual professional pharmacy practice and for no legitimate medical purpose. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District of Michigan Regina R. McCullough and Philip A. Ross.
Wahid Makki, 62, Zainab Makki a/k/a “Zeinab Makki,” 62, both of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, together with the two pharmacies they operated, Kirtland Corp. a/k/a New Millennium Drugs and Western Wayne Pharmacy, LLC, have agreed to pay the United States and the State of Michigan $1,500,000 to resolve a civil qui tam lawsuit alleging that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid Programs for prescription drugs that New Millenium Drugs and Western Wayne Pharmacy billed to the Programs, but never dispensed. In addition, Wahid Makki has agreed to his exclusion from the Medicare, Medicaid, and all other federal health care programs for 10 years. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wizner of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, in coordination with Assistant Attorney General Timothy Erickson of the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division.
Dr. Mohmmed Al-Shihabi, 55, of Northville, Michigan, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud in connection with a $1.9 million home health care fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Al-Shihabi accepted referrals of Medicare beneficiaries from a home health agency and submitted approximately $450,000 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for services purportedly provided to these beneficiaries. Medicare paid approximately $230,000 based on these claims. As further alleged, in exchange for these referrals, Dr. Al-Shihabi falsely certified the beneficiaries as homebound, enabling the home health agency to submit approximately $1.5 million in false and fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary home health services. Medicare paid approximately $1.3 million based on these claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Ryan Elsey and Ahmad Huda of the Midwest Strike Force.
Dr. Priti Bhardwaj, 55, of Bloomfield Township, Michigan, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud in connection with a $1.8 million home health care fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Bhardwaj accepted referrals of Medicare beneficiaries from several Detroit-area home health agencies and submitted approximately $1,000,000 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for services purportedly provided to these beneficiaries. Medicare paid approximately $249,000 based on these claims. As further alleged, in exchange for these referrals, Dr. Bhardwaj falsely certified the beneficiaries as homebound, enabling the home health agencies to submit approximately $790,000 in false and fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary home health services. Medicare paid approximately $700,000 based on these claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Ryan Elsey and Ahmad Huda of the Midwest Strike Force.
Ali Naserdean, 32, of Dearborn, Michigan, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud in connection with his ownership of Warren Pharmacy Rx LLC and his work as a pharmacy technician at Gracee Pharmacy PLLC and Warren Family Pharmacy LLC. As alleged in the indictment, Naserdean used his control and access to the pharmacies to bill Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan approximately $6,021,000 for medications that were medically unnecessary, never dispensed, and/or never prescribed by a physician. Assets valued at approximately $1,275,085 were seized as part of this case, including $1.1 million in cash, a Range Rover, and designer watches and bags. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jeffrey A. Crapko and Ahmad Huda of the Midwest Strike Force.
Villa Financial Services LLC, Villa Olympia Investment LLC, and six southeast Michigan Villa nursing homes – The Ambassador, Father Murray, Imperial, Regency, St. Joseph’s and Westland – have agreed to pay the United States and the State of Michigan a total of $4,500,000, to resolve a civil qui tam lawsuit alleging that they violated the False Claims Act by systematically failing to provide services to nursing home residents and/or providing materially and grossly substandard services to nursing home residents. The case is being jointly handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wizner of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and Trial Attorney Kelly McAuliffe of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Commercial Litigation Branch - Fraud Section, in coordination with Assistant Attorney General Brendan Maturen of the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division.

Western District of Michigan

Paul Eric Lyons, 41, of Fraser, Michigan, and Tiffany Nicole Childs, 35, of Sterling Heights, Michigan, were charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit nearly $1.4 million in claims for dental services that were not rendered to a Michigan dental insurance company, which resulted in a loss of nearly $380,000.00. As alleged in the information, Lyons conspired with Childs and other recruiters to cause employees at various automobile manufacturing plants who subscribed to the victim insurer’s dental plan to provide their personal identifying information and insurance information, usually unwittingly, to the scheme. Lyons then used this information to submit claims for dental services in the names of these individuals from actual dental clinics where he worked, as if the services were provided by licensed Michigan dentists. In reality, Lyons stole the names of dentists who were employees or volunteers at the clinics where he worked to make it appear to the victim insurer that services were actually provided by these licensed dentists. When Lyons submitted bills in the names of dentists that were not in the insurer’s network, the insurance subscribers received the insurance checks, which they believed were insurance rebates, and shared the proceeds with Childs and Lyons. As time progressed, Lyons created his own fictitious dental clinics and stole the identifiers of actual patients at the dental clinics where he worked and used their identities to bill the victim insurance company for additional services that were not rendered. Lyons used the names of in-network dentists for these claims submissions and received payment directly from the victim insurer by disguising his identity with CashApp accounts in various alias names. Lyons was additionally charged with aggravated identity theft for his use of the means of identification of one of the Michigan dentists to carry out his health care fraud scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald M. Stella of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.

Northern District of Mississippi

Ricky Wayne Quinn and John Anthony Null a/k/a “Andy Null,” both of Corinth, Mississippi, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for over $700,000 for prescription drugs. As alleged in the indictment, Quinn and Null, both pharmacists, paid cash to runners in the community who brought them legitimate prescriptions for prescription drugs. Quinn and Null dispensed the prescription drugs to the patients, who provided the unopened prescription drugs to the runners. In exchange for cash, the runners returned the unopened prescription drug products back to Quinn and Null to be restocked in order to be billed to Medicare and Medicaid again. This practice allowed Quinn and Null to bill Medicare and Medicaid numerous times for the same prescription drug products. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clayton A. Dabbs of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Southern District of Mississippi

Willie De Gibbs, 52, of Toomsuba, Mississippi, and Cutler Bay, Florida, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit, and receive health care kickbacks, transactional money laundering, and bank fraud in connection with a $19 million durable medical equipment (“DME”) fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Gibbs, a Mississippi businessman, paid kickbacks in exchange for fraudulent doctors’ orders and then used those doctors’ orders to bill Medicare approximately $19,445,116.69 through seven DME suppliers that Gibbs owned or controlled, sometimes through nominee owners, for dispensing orthotic braces to beneficiaries who did not want or need the braces. Medicare paid approximately $9,449,289 on these claims. Gibbs then laundered the funds through three purported consulting companies that Gibbs owned and controlled. Gibbs also applied for two Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans for businesses that were not in operation prior to February 15, 2020, as required by the PPP, and submitted false certifications and falsified financial statements as supporting documentation for the loan applications. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sara Porter of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Purdie of the Southern District of Mississippi.
Auzie Phillip Smith, Jr., 66, of Madison, Mississippi, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer, pay, solicit, and receive kickbacks in connection with a $1.4 million laboratory fraud scheme. As alleged in the information, Smith worked as a marketer for various diagnostic laboratories and paid illegal kickbacks to medical providers to induce them to refer biological specimens and orders for unnecessary molecular diagnostic testing of toenail clippings to the laboratories. Between November 2019 and October 2021, one of the diagnostic laboratories submitted approximately $1,430,721 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which approximately $544,822.68 was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sara Porter of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Purdie of the Southern District of Mississippi.

District of Montana

Kimberly Bengtson, 49, of Butte, Montana, was charged by indictment with theft of government funds, in connection with a federal benefits fraud scheme, including loss of more than $180,000. As alleged in the indictment, Bengtson lied about her earnings and household composition. As a result, Bengtson received federal benefits she was not entitled to. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Hargrove of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
Ronda Knox, 59, and Michael Knox, 57, of Missoula, Montana, were charged by indictment with conspiracy and Social Security fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud the Social Security Administration of disability benefits. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants concealed their living arrangements and employment to obtain Social Security disability and Medicaid benefits when they were not eligible. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Clarke of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.

District of Nevada

Paulino Gonzalez, 40, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive kickbacks for participating in a $94 million scheme to order, recommend, and apply amniotic wound allografts in return for illegal kickbacks. As alleged in the information, Gonzalez, a registered nurse, received approximately $7,391,584 in illegal kickbacks from an allograft distributor in exchange for recommending the purchasing and ordering of certain allografts billed to Medicare. A wound care company paid Gonzalez to apply allografts, some of which were medically unnecessary, to Medicare beneficiaries. Between October 2021 and April 2024, the wound care company billed Medicare over $94 million for allografts applied by Gonzalez and others. Medicare paid over $54 million based on those false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Monica Cooper of the Texas Strike Force and Shane Butland of the National Rapid Response Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Oliva of the District of Nevada.
Mary Huntly, 67, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks for participating in a scheme to receive illegal kickbacks in exchange for purchasing and ordering amniotic wound allografts billed to Medicare. As alleged in the information, Huntly, a nurse practitioner, applied medically unnecessary allografts to Medicare beneficiaries that were procured through illegal kickbacks and bribes. From September 2022 through April 2024, Huntly’s wound care company fraudulently billed Medicare approximately $14,333,550, and Medicare paid approximately $9,105,563 based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Monica Cooper of the Texas Strike Force and Shane Butland of the National Rapid Response Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Oliva of the District of Nevada.

District of New Hampshire

Erik Alonso, 54, of Miami, Florida, was charged by indictment with eight counts of health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims to New Hampshire Medicaid for psychotherapy treatment Alonso purportedly provided via telehealth, despite the fact that Alonso was excluded from billing federally funded health care programs as a result of a prior 2015 health care fraud-related conviction. As alleged in the indictment, Alonso, a clinical social worker, did not disclose his exclusion to his employer, a Laconia, New Hampshire-based telehealth psychotherapy provider, and he treated New Hampshire Medicaid beneficiaries between March 2022 and July 2024, resulting in Alonso receiving approximately $111,463 of the payments that New Hampshire Medicaid made to the clinic. In addition, as alleged in the indictment, Alonso exploited a psychotherapy client by seeking and obtaining assistance from that client with personal tasks, including preparing an application for a presidential pardon of his prior conviction and assisting him with applying for licensure in other New England states. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Thomas Campbell, John Howard, and Danielle Sakowski of the New England Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Vicinanzo of the District of New Hampshire.
Leo Anzivino, Jr., 34, of Teaticket, Massachusetts, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering in connection with a $6.3 million scheme to defraud Medicare. As alleged in the indictment, Anzivino, Jr. acted as the straw owner of a durable medical equipment (“DME”) company, Advanced Medical Supply, and conspired with others to submit approximately $6,326,040 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which approximately $2,844,617 was paid, for DME that was medically unnecessary and unwanted by the Medicare beneficiaries who received these items. Anzivino allegedly conspired to launder over $3 million in fraud proceeds in an effort to conceal the source and control of the funds. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Thomas Campbell, Danielle Sakowski, and Tiffany Wynn of the New England Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Vicinanzo of the District of New Hampshire.

District of New Jersey

Michael Emma, 65, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was charged by information with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances in connection with an opioid pill diversion scheme involving doctors’ offices in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. As alleged in the information, Emma unlawfully distributed the equivalent of 8,220 30-milligram tablets of oxycodone. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Paul J. Koob and Nicholas K. Peone of the Northeast Strike Force.
Excel Pharmacy Inc., located in Jersey City, New Jersey, agreed to pay the United States and the State of New Jersey $3,000,000 to resolve allegations that from January 2, 2015, through January 25, 2022, it caused the submission of claims for reimbursement to the Medicare Part D Program and the New Jersey Medicaid Program for drugs that were never dispensed to beneficiaries. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kruti Dharia and Robert Toll of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, with assistance from the New York State Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Dr. Abu Muhammad Haque, 70, of West Islip, New York, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to solicit and receive health care kickbacks in connection with a $15 million fraudulent laboratory testing scheme. As alleged in the information, Dr. Haque participated in a scheme to receive kickbacks and bribes in exchange for ordering laboratory tests, including expensive cancer genetic tests, that were billed to Medicare. Dr. Haque and his co-conspirators concealed and disguised the scheme by, among other ways: making the illegal kickback payments in cash; paying Dr. Haque by check from a co-conspirator’s shell company accounts; using Dr. Haque’s newspaper company to cash and deposit checks from a co-conspirator’s shell company accounts; and falsely indicating in the memo lines of the checks that the payments were for services like marketing and advertising. As part of the kickback scheme, Dr. Haque and his co-conspirators caused more than $15.3 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, on which Medicare paid approximately $839,634. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Hyungjoo Han and Nicholas K. Peone of the Northeast Strike Force.
Nestor E. Jaime, 36, of Pine Brook, New Jersey, was charged by indictment with health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent prescription drugs claims to Medicare. As alleged in the indictment, Jaime, a pharmacy owner, engaged in a scheme to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for a high-reimbursement medication that the pharmacy never dispensed and for which the pharmacy never received any prescriptions from the purported beneficiaries’ health care providers for the medication. Medicare paid Jaime’s pharmacy $2,505,754 for these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Ecker of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Taejin Kim, 43, of River Vale, New Jersey, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims to Amtrak’s health care plan for services that were never provided and were medically unnecessary. As alleged in the information, Kim, a licensed physical therapist, participated in a conspiracy to use Amtrak employees’ insurance information to submit false and fraudulent claims for services that were medically unnecessary and never provided to the Amtrak employees. Amtrak paid approximately $2,253,453 on these claims. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica R. Ecker and Katherine M. Romano of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (“NBIMC”), located in Newark, New Jersey, has agreed to pay the United States $250,000 to resolve allegations that from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019, doctors working in NBIMC’s Heart Transplant Program failed to adequately disclose to patients and their family members material medical information about patients’ conditions. As alleged, this conduct resulted in NBIMC performing medically unnecessary treatment on these patients. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Toll of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Premier Dental Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Sonrava Health, Element Dental Partners Holdco, LLC, Element Dental Partners, LLC, Mid-Atlantic Dental Services Holdings LLC, and The Jersey Dental Group have agreed to pay the United States and the State of New Jersey $540,000 to resolve allegations that from January 1, 2021 through July 31, 2023, it submitted or caused the submission of claims for reimbursement to the Medicare Part D Program and the New Jersey Medicaid Program (“NJ FamilyCare”) for: (a) services that were performed by providers who were not credentialed with NJ FamilyCare or the applicable managed care organization, but billed for by using the National Provider Identifiers of dentists who did not perform the services but had the necessary credentials; or (b) services that were performed and billed by uncredentialed providers at the time the service was rendered. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Toll of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
QuickRx LLC, an entity affiliated with Community Pharmacy, located in Elizabeth, New Jersey, has agreed to pay the United States and the State of New Jersey $962,821 to resolve allegations that from January 7, 2015, through January 24, 2022, it caused the submission of claims for reimbursement to the Medicare Part D Program and the New Jersey Medicaid Program for drugs that were never dispensed to beneficiaries. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kruti Dharia and Robert Toll of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Raghu Ram Inc. d/b/a Camden Discount Pharmacy, located in Camden, New Jersey has agreed to pay the United States and the State of New Jersey $310,000 to resolve allegations that from January 2, 2015, through January 24, 2022, it caused the submission of claims for reimbursement to the Medicare Part D Program and the New Jersey Medicaid Program for drugs that were never dispensed to beneficiaries. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kruti Dharia and Robert Toll of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Rachit Drug Inc., located in Newark, New Jersey, has agreed to pay the United States and the State of New Jersey $225,000 to resolve allegations that, from January 2, 2015, through January 25, 2022, it caused the submission of claims for reimbursement to the Medicare Part D Program and the New Jersey Medicaid Program for drugs that were never dispensed to beneficiaries. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kruti Dharia and Robert Toll of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Alan Vaughan, 56, of the United Kingdom, was charged with conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback statute in connection with a scheme to generate referrals for durable medical equipment and cancer genetic tests. As alleged in the indictment, Vaughan paid kickbacks to several marketers in exchange for personal health and insurance information about Medicare beneficiaries, transmitted that information to telemedicine companies, and then received kickbacks from genetic testing laboratories and durable medical equipment supply companies for each item of durable medical equipment and/or each cancer genetic test for which Medicare provided reimbursement. As further alleged, to conceal the scheme, Vaughan and his co-conspirators received millions of dollars in kickbacks through a shell company in New Zealand. As a result of the alleged scheme, Vaughan and his co-conspirators caused a loss to Medicare of more than $80 million. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Garrett J. Schuman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

Eastern District of New York

OPERATION GOLD RUSH: In the largest health care fraud case by loss amount ever charged by the Department of Justice, Imam Nakhmatullaev, 24, Svjatoslav Jakovlev, 29, Eric Juergens, 28, Jaan Juergens, 32, Ilja Karunas, 26, Juri Karunas, 27, Jason Onoufrienko, 24, Renek Tiku, 34, Vladislav Turaskin, 29, Kevin Valdhans, 33, and Vjatseslav Zogolev, 33, all currently residing outside the United States, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Nakhmatullaev, Jakovlev, E. Juergens, J. Juergens, Onoufrienko, Tiku, Turaskin, Valdhans, and Zogolev were also charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, and Jakovlev, Valdhans, J. Juergens, and Onoufrienko were charged with one count each of health care fraud. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants were members of a Transnational Criminal Organization, based in Russia and elsewhere, that orchestrated a multi-billion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme to target, exploit, and steal from Medicare. The Organization allegedly submitted over $10.6 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims for durable medical equipment (“DME”).
To execute the scheme, the Organization purchased dozens of DME companies that already had the ability to submit claims to Medicare and Medicare Supplemental Insurers. The Organization executed these purchases by paying foreign nationals and others to serve as nominee owners of the DME Companies. The Organization then created fictitious corporate records that falsely indicated that the nominee owners controlled the DME companies when the Organization’s foreign-based leadership actually did. After the Organization gained control over the DME companies, it rapidly submitted billions of dollars in false and fraudulent health care claims to Medicare. The Organization did so by stealing the identities and personal identifying information of more than one million Americans spanning all fifty states, including elderly and disabled Americans.
As also alleged, the Organization exploited the U.S. financial system. The Organization leveraged U.S. financial institutions to deposit checks and transfer funds out of accounts. The health care fraud proceeds were particularly susceptible to laundering because they originated from legitimate sources—Medicare and Medicare Supplemental Insurers—giving the funds the initial appearance of legitimacy. The Organization deployed a range of tactics to circumvent the anti-money laundering controls at multiple financial institutions. To open financial accounts, the Organization armed its nominee owners, many of whom were not lawfully present in the United States, with false documentation reflecting that the nominee owners maintained beneficial ownership and control of the DME companies for which they were attempting to open accounts and disguised the true beneficial ownership and control of the entities and the accounts. This allowed the Organization to remain hidden but able to profit from the scheme. Moreover, the use of the DME companies’ names to open financial accounts allowed the Organization to benefit from the illusion of legitimate commercial activity within the health care market.
Upon opening the financial accounts, the Organization funneled fraud proceeds from Medicare and Medicare Supplemental Insurers into the accounts as seemingly “clean” money. From there, the Organization siphoned off the funds to shell companies and various banks overseas, including banks in China, Singapore, Pakistan, Israel, and Turkey. To further conceal money trail, the Organization leveraged cryptocurrency to launder the stolen funds.
The Organization constantly evolved, recruiting new nominee owners, stealing new identities, and acquiring new DME companies to replace those shut down by law enforcement. This evolution was made possible through the Organization’s extensive use of virtual private servers (“VPSs”) to execute nearly all digital aspects of the scheme. The VPSs allowed the Organization to use a cyberinfrastructure that helped conceal conspirators’ true physical locations, mask Organization IP addresses, and scale fraudulent operations internationally.
As federal agents closed in on various conspirators, the Organization directed several members conducting Organization business in the United States to flee the United States to avoid arrest. At U.S. airports, including in Los Angeles and New York, federal law enforcement agents intercepted key members of the Organization at the departure gates, cutting off their intended escape routes as they attempted to avoid capture. Federal law enforcement also intercepted members of the Organization attempting to drive to the U.S. border with Mexico and cross on foot. Other conspirators, including some of the indicted defendants, evaded capture and fled the United States.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services successfully prevented the Organization from receiving the vast majority of the money that it conspired to steal from Medicare, resulting in less than $42 million in payments. The scheme nonetheless resulted in payments from Medicare Supplemental Insurers estimated to be nearly $900 million. To date, the government seized approximately $27.7 million in fraud proceeds as part of Operation Gold Rush, subject to criminal forfeiture and civil forfeiture in a case filed in the District of Connecticut. The criminal case is being prosecuted by Strike Force Assistant Chiefs Kevin Lowell and Shankar Ramamurthy, and Strike Force Trial Attorneys Sara Porter, Andres Almendarez, Leonid Sandlar, Monica Cooper, Thomas Campbell, Danielle Sakowski, and Matthew Belz. Trial Attorney Sara Porter initiated the investigation, which was supported by members of multiple Strike Forces. The civil forfeiture proceeding is being prosecuted by Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section Trial Attorneys Emily Cohen and Chelsea Rooney and Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Nelson of the District of Connecticut. The United States thanks the Economic Crime Bureau of the National Criminal Police of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board and the Office of the Prosecutor General for support with the investigation.
Joseph Tony Brown-Arkah, 78, of Brooklyn, New York, was charged by superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and narcotics distribution in connection with an alleged $85 million health care fraud and narcotics distribution scheme. As alleged in the superseding indictment, Brown-Arkah, the owner of a Suboxone clinic doing business as American Medical Centers (“AMC”), together with others, engaged in a scheme to bill Medicare and Medicaid fraudulently for services not provided or not provided as billed, and to prescribe narcotics pursuant to prescriptions that were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a provider acting in the usual course of professional practice. In particular, AMC patients received prescriptions for Suboxone (a Schedule III narcotic) after meeting with non-licensed medical providers, an excluded provider, or in some instances, no health care provider whatsoever. The prescriptions were written by a medical provider living in Florida, who did not see or speak with the patients; instead the provider typically issued based on information provided by Brown-Arkah or another co-conspirator. AMC patients were also required to submit to urine drug screening, blood tests, and sometimes other diagnostic testing in order to receive their Suboxone prescriptions; the laboratory and diagnostic tests, which were typically ordered by Brown-Arkah or by a co-conspirator who had been excluded from Medicare and Medicaid, were likewise billed to Medicare and Medicaid. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Miriam Glaser Dauermann of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Maggie Mortimer of the Northeast Strike Force.
Mujjahid Huq, 45, of Halesite, New York, was charged by indictment with three counts of health care fraud, two counts of unlawful monetary transactions, and conspiracy to make false statements in health care matters in connection with a $2.1 million pharmacy fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Huq, a licensed pharmacist, owned several pharmacies in Brooklyn, Queens, and Buffalo, New York. Through these pharmacies, Huq billed Medicare and Medicaid $2.1 million for drugs that were not dispensed. Huq also allegedly agreed with others to make false statements about his ownership of the pharmacies, and used the fraud proceeds for his personal benefit. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Patrick J. Campbell and Arun Bodapati of the Northeast Strike Force.
Hong Yuen Mak, a/k/a Joe Mak, 40, of Brooklyn, New York, was charged by information with conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Vagelatos of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Boris Manaev, 45, of Lynbrook, New York, was charged by indictment with health care fraud and unlawful monetary transactions in connection with an $8.2 million durable medical equipment (“DME”) scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Manaev, the owner of BB Medical Equipment Inc., billed Medicare $8.2 million for medically unnecessary DME that was shipped nationwide, and Medicare paid approximately $3.1 million based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Patrick J. Campbell of the Northeast Strike Force.

Northern District of New York

Anja Salamack, of Florida, was charged by information with health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims to health care benefit programs for services that she never provided. Salamack, a psychiatric nurse practitioner who resided in Florida but claimed to be practicing in Albany, New York, submitted false and fraudulent claims for psychotherapy services and evaluation and management services that she never provided. Salamack was also charged with distributing and dispensing Schedule II controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. In a separate civil settlement agreement, Salamack admitted that she submitted claims to Medicare for psychotherapy services that were not rendered. She also admitted that she used $48,670 in Provider Relief Funds for impermissible purposes. The PRF was money that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act allocated to health care providers to pay for costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Salamack agreed to pay the United States $188,850 to resolve her False Claims Act liability for the admitted conduct. The criminal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York; the civil case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Moran.
Centers Health Care has agreed to pay the United States $6,063,500 to resolve allegations that 44 Skilled Nursing Facilities (“SNFs”) located in New York, Rhode Island, Kansas and Missouri, submitted Medicare cost reports that contained false statements or omitted material information regarding their transactions with related organizations. Related organizations are entities related to the SNF through common ownership or control. Medicare regulations require SNFs to disclose their related organizations, along with calculations related to the allowable costs, on cost reports that are submitted to Medicare Administrative Contractors. Centers admitted that the cost reports for the 44 SNFs contained one or more false statements or material omissions regarding related organizations and the related calculations. Centers further admitted that its management knew or reasonably should have known of the false statements. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Moran and John Hoggan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

Northern District of New York / Eastern District of Virginia

Kimberly Humphrey a/k/a “Kimberly Owen,” 41, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was charged by information with health care fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud TRICARE and Medicaid. Humphrey owned and operated two pharmacies in the Eastern District of Virginia that engaged in compounding various medications. Humphrey devised a scheme to fraudulently inflate her billing by altering these compounded medications. In some instances, Humphrey substituted different medications and added other medications to inflate her billing. As one example, Humphrey altered prescriptions for a medication named “KamDoy” that contained 1% lidocaine as an active ingredient and billed health care benefit programs approximately $1,200 per prescription. By comparison, similar medications could be purchased over the counter for less than approximately $10. Humphrey submitted approximately $486,000 in false and fraudulent claims to TRICARE and Medicaid, of which approximately $486,000 were paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Rosenthal and Michael Barnett of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Kosky of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Southern District of New York

Ali Rashan, 41, of New York, New York, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, health care fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make false statements relating to health care matters, and false statements relating to health care matters. These charges relate to Rashan’s leadership in a scheme to bill insurance providers, including Medicare and Medicaid, for COVID-19 testing services and other medical services that were never provided, resulting in losses of at least approximately $24 million. As alleged in the indictment, Rashan, the founder and owner of ClearMD, a provider of medical testing services, agreed to submit and caused to be submitted to insurers fraudulent claims that billed for unperformed and unrequested services purportedly provided to patients who sought testing for COVID-19 and fraudulent medical records in support of these fraudulent claims. For example, Rashan directed ClearMD to submit or cause the submission of thousands of claims that billed for evaluation and management services that were never performed. Furthermore, at times during the relevant period, Rashan directed ClearMD to submit claims to insurers billing for two to four COVID-19 testing codes, even though ClearMD had administered only a single COVID-19 test to patients. Thereafter, in response to requests from insurers for documentation supporting its claims for reimbursement, Rashan instructed ClearMD staff to write a software program to generate medical records to support ClearMD’s fraudulent billings. Rashan directed ClearMD to submit these fabricated medical records to insurers to deceive them about the services that ClearMD had provided and to justify ClearMD’s retention of amounts paid to ClearMD in response to fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rushmi Bhaskaran, Timothy Capozzi, and Jaclyn Delligatti of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Josue Torres, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, and Anthony Guerra, 37, of the Bronx, New York, were charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in connection with a scheme to obtain approximately $2.6 million in high-cost medications for HIV and other illnesses by causing fraudulent prescriptions to be issued using the stolen identities of medical practitioners and those practitioners’ purported patients. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Ross of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Western District of New York

Joel Durinka, 40, of Orchard Park, New York, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, and false statements relating to health care matters in connection with a telehealth/durable medical equipment (“DME”) scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Durinka, a medical doctor, billed Medicare for audio-only telehealth visits that were either brief or did not occur at all. Durinka billed Medicare approximately $5.6 million for these fraudulent telehealth visits. It was also part of the scheme that, for the same beneficiaries, Durinka produced and maintained false and fictitious medical records and fraudulently certified orders for braces without regard to the braces’ medical necessity. Durinka billed Medicare approximately $29.6 million for these fraudulent DME orders. The government has seized $325,683.07 from Durinka. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan Glaberson and David Coriell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
Enaame Farrell, 50, of Milton, Ontario, Canada, was subject to a civil complaint alleging violations of the False Claims Act, as well as other common law causes of action, in connection with scheme to defraud Medicare by causing the submission of false and fraudulent claims for which Medicare paid approximately $3.4 million. As alleged in the complaint, Farrell, a licensed medical doctor, ordered items and services, including durable medical equipment, for Medicare beneficiaries without speaking with or examining the beneficiaries, signing pre-populated order forms within seconds of accessing the beneficiaries’ medical records. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Coriell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
Kevin Whitman, 27, of Irondequoit, New York, was charged by complaint with distributing or dispensing a controlled substance, using a registration number issued to another to obtain controlled substances, and obtaining controlled substances by fraud. As alleged in the complaint, between August 2023 and April 2025, Whitman falsely claimed to be a medical doctor and fraudulently used a DEA registration number belonging to Strong Memorial Hospital to issue 177 prescriptions—primarily for oxycodone—to nine individuals. These prescriptions totaled 38,067 dosage units of Schedule II controlled substances. Whitman has no affiliation with Strong Memorial Hospital and does not hold any professional licenses granted in New York State to practice medicine or to issue controlled substance prescriptions. Assistant United States Attorney Sean Eldridge of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York is prosecuting the case, with the assistance of the New York Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Eastern District of North Carolina

Kimberly Mable Sims (a lab company owner), Francine Sims Super (an office manager), and Keke Komeko Johnson (a compliance officer), were charged by information in connection with the payment of more than $1 million in illegal remunerations in the form of gift cards to patients of Life Touch, LLC (“Life Touch”), a North Carolina substance abuse treatment company, and in connection with false statements to Medicaid auditors regarding the same. The inducements resulted in more than $25 million in payments from Medicaid to Life Touch. As alleged, over four years, Life Touch, through its compliance officer and managers, routinely paid patients based upon the number of days per week that they received services. Life Touch staff also received kickbacks from a lab company that it utilized for drug testing services. The charging documents further allege that Medicaid auditors were deceived regarding these ongoing practices at Life Touch and the lab company. In addition, Super and Johnson were each charged with failure to file a tax return. Life Touch and Brandon Eugene Sims were previously charged in this case. More than $6 million in assets in the form of cash, real estate and other assets have been seized. The cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tasha Gardner, and Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Gilmore of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Randal Fenton Wood, 56, of Flagler Beach, Florida, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), and other insurance programs for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (“DME”). As alleged in the information, Wood and others partnered with purported marketing entities which solicited Medicare beneficiaries to accept durable medical equipment, such as braces and pneumatic compression devices, by illegally waiving copays and pressuring beneficiaries to accept the equipment without verifying that the equipment was medically necessary. The marketing entities sold the beneficiary information and the prefilled orders to Wood and other DME supply companies, who developed and implemented a “doctor chase” model to pressure physicians into signing or altering orders so that they could be billed in full. The DME supply companies owned by or affiliated with Wood received over $39 million in reimbursement from Medicare for DME ordered through this scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Beraka of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Western District of North Carolina

Crystal Sherrell Jackson, 39, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was charged by information with health care fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud North Carolina Medicaid by submitting fraudulent claims for drug testing and psychotherapy. Jackson, a licensed clinical addiction specialist at the time of her offenses, and the owner of Jackson Consulting Services, LLC, was an enrolled provider with North Carolina Medicaid. Jackson used her company to submit $1.9 million of false and fraudulent claims in the names of North Carolina Medicaid beneficiaries for drug tests that were not performed or were medically unnecessary, of which $1.6 million were paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Savage and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina Fleisch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
Donald Calvin Saunders, 62, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Vanessa Ragin Boatright, 59, of Manning, South Carolina; Latarsa Hitchcock, 56, of Raleigh, North Carolina; Dajuan Strickland, 46, of Buffalo, New York; Cynthia Jenkins Harris, 60, of Elgin, South Carolina; Stephanie Corbett, 59, of Jonesboro, Georgia, and Karen McClary, 51, of Kingstree, South Carolina, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Additionally, Saunders, Boatright, Strickland, and Jenkins were charged with health care fraud; Saunders, Boatright, and Strickland were charged with purchasing and selling Medicaid numbers without lawful authority; Saunders, Boatright, Strickland, and Jenkins were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering; and Saunders and Strickland were charged with money laundering, all in connection with a $21 million scheme in which behavioral health providers in North Carolina submitted false and fraudulent claims to the South Carolina Medicaid program for services that were not performed. David Cory Hill, 54, of Charlotte, NC, was charged separately in an information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit offenses against the United States and money laundering. As alleged in the indictment, Saunders, Boatright, Hitchcock, Strickland, and Hill would set up or acquire behavioral health care companies and enroll them with South Carolina Medicaid under a program in which beneficiaries could select providers within 25 miles of South Carolina. Saunders and his conspirators used companies under their control to submit thousands of claims for behavioral services that were not provided. Jenkins, a former state of South Carolina employee, used her consulting firm to obtain the credentials of licensed professionals needed to bill South Carolina Medicaid and to create false clinical notes in the event of an audit. Corbett, who operated a third-party medical billing service, submitted false claims to South Carolina Medicaid, for which she was paid for each successful claim. McClary, a social worker with access to Medicaid beneficiary information, sold Medicaid beneficiary names and numbers to the conspirators, for which she was paid $200 to $300 for each eligible beneficiary. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Savage and Graham Billings of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, with substantial assistance from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

District of North Dakota

Isaac Osei Afoakwa, 55, of Bismarck, North Dakota, was charged by indictment with false statements relating to a health care benefit program, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent tax return. As alleged in the indictment, Afoakwa, as owner and principal of Bismarck Transportation Services, allegedly submitted $100,000 of false and fraudulent claims to North Dakota Medicaid on behalf of Bismarck Transportation Services for non-medical emergency transport services. Afoakwa also fraudulently obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan, as well as eight Economic Injury Disaster Loans, to which he was not entitled, in the total amount of $1,615,944. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Greenley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota.

Northern District of Ohio

Mohammed Ahmad, 39, of Avon, Ohio, was charged by information with making false statements related to health care matters in connection with a durable medical equipment telemedicine scheme. As alleged in the information, Ahmad, a licensed physician, was paid by a telemedicine company to sign pre-completed orders for durable medical equipment for patients that Ahmad never saw for treatment. As a result of this scheme, Ahmad caused approximately $267,402 in false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare, of which approximately $126,643 was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chelsea Rice and Erica Barnhill of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

Southern District of Ohio

Terry Hill, Jr., 59, of Dayton, Ohio, was charged by indictment with health care fraud, false statements relating to health care matters, and conspiracy to commit health care fraud for illegally owning and operating a Dayton substance abuse treatment recovery facility, Recovery Street Central, after having been excluded from participating in government health care benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. As alleged, Hill was excluded from participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 2021 after being convicted of Medicaid fraud. Notwithstanding his exclusion, Hill continued to own and operate Recovery Street Central which submitted over $4,000,000 in claims to Medicaid for counseling services that were not provided or provided in violation of Medicaid rules and regulations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Affeldt of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, and Brian Walters, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and Senior Assistant Ohio Attorney General for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office - Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Northern District of Oklahoma

Ladd Clayton Atkins, 50, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was charged by information with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance unlawfully as a registrant and conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to unlawfully prescribe controlled substances and defraud Medicaid and/or Medicaid. As alleged in the information, Atkins, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, knowingly, intentionally, and willfully conspired, confederated, and agreed with others, to both unlawfully prescribe Adderall, a Schedule II controlled substance and defraud health care benefit programs. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel-lyn McCormick, Attila Bogdan and Vani Singhal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Western District of Oklahoma

Alexander Frank, 55, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was charged by indictment with health care fraud. As alleged in the indictment, between 2021 and 2023, Frank fraudulently billed Medicare for approximately $3 million of face-to-face visits with beneficiaries in skilled nursing facilities which he did not render or rendered only in part. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D.H. Dilbeck of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.

District of Oregon

Edward Alan Huycke, 66, of Ontario, Canada, was charged by indictment with health care fraud conspiracy, offering and paying illegal health care kickbacks, and money laundering conspiracy in connection with a $44 million scheme to defraud Medicare by paying illegal kickbacks and bribes to telemarketing companies in exchange for doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces. As alleged in the indictment, Huycke owned brace supply companies that submitted more than $44 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, and Medicare paid more than $23 million based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Darren C. Halverson of the National Rapid Response Strike Force.

Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Hemal Patel, 59, of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, was charged by information with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, in connection with a home care fraud scheme, where Patel is alleged to have received kickbacks to refer home care patients to home care agencies. Patel and others devised a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicaid for home care services that were never provided, resulting in a loss to Medicaid of approximately $1,069,384.38. As alleged in the information, Patel forged doctor signatures on forms required to certify individuals as eligible for home care services, and unlawfully used individuals’ personally identifiable information without their knowledge to enroll them for home care services they were not entitled to while those individuals were living out of the country. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisa Shver of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

District of South Carolina

Tina Marie Armstrong, 67, of Florence, South Carolina, was charged by superseding indictment with health care fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for durable medical equipment that was no longer in service, never delivered, or that had not been authorized by a physician. As alleged in the superseding indictment, Armstrong, through her company Safe at Home Medical Equipment and Supplies, LLC, submitted $198,981.55 in false and fraudulent claims, of which $104,577.74 were paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Holliday of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.
Dee Alice Moton, 51, of Hephzibah, Georgia, was charged by indictment with health care fraud in connection with a scheme where Moton billed the Veterans Administration for services not rendered to veterans in the amount of $2,373,147.22 over a two-year period. Moton, a licensed massage therapist, owned and operated a massage therapy business in Aiken, South Carolina called Flowing Hands Massage Clinical Therapy. As alleged in the indictment, Moton consistently billed veterans for services that were not rendered, such as multiple mutually exclusive evaluation and management codes, telehealth codes when in-person services were rendered, and specialized services she was not authorized to render or treatments for ailments veterans did not have or could not have received, for example, wheelchair therapy for a veteran who does not use a wheelchair. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Matthews and Amy Bower of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.

Middle District of Tennessee

Xuhan Zhang a/k/a “Shelia Zhang” a/k/a “Xuhan Mei,” 62, and Jing Qi Mei, 65, both of Hendersonville, Tennessee, were charged by indictment with a conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, false statements related to health care, aggravated identity theft, a money laundering conspiracy, and money laundering, in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield for inpatient hospital services purportedly provided by Zhang, a medical doctor, and billed by Mei between 2017 and 2025. The inpatient physician services were never provided, including because the hospital closed, the patients were actually in nursing homes, and in many instances, the patients were deceased. The defendants billed for services that exceeded twenty-four hours in a day. In connection with the scheme, Zhang and Mei submitted to Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield approximately $20 million in fraudulent claims of which approximately $6.5 million were paid. The Asset Forfeiture Unit seized approximately $6,000,000 in proceeds from bank accounts, and a Tesla CyberTruck. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Robert Levine and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Bogni of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Toussaint is handling asset forfeiture.

Western District of Tennessee

Kossie Lamon Simmons, 59, and Katina Marzie Simmons, 48, both of Collierville, Tennessee, and Tritia Margalizita Townsend, 47, of Memphis, Tennessee, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and seven counts health care fraud in connection with a $28 million scheme to defraud the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund. As alleged in the indictment, Kossie Simmons was a beneficial owner of SarJo Pharmacy, Inc. (“SarJo”) and submitted claims for prescription medications purportedly dispensed. Katina Simmons was SarJo’s listed 70% owner and manager, and Tritia Townsend was its pharmacist-in-charge. Through SarJo, the defendants fraudulently billed the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund approximately $28,738,532, of which approximately $16,262,445 was paid, for medications purportedly dispensed to injured United States Postal Service claimants. In reality, the claims were based on illegitimate prescriptions, and the medications were not carried in stock by SarJo or ever dispensed to the claimants. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sara Porter of the Gulf Coast Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Raney Irwin of the Western District of Tennessee.

Northern District of Texas

Demitrious Gilmore, 46, of Lubbock, Texas, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with the submission of false and fraudulent medical claims for various benefits, items, and services that were ineligible for reimbursement, not medically necessary, not performed, or not provided. As alleged in the indictment, Gilmore, the owner of WM Wellness, LLC and Gilmorehands, Inc. d/b/a Work-Med, submitted the claims to the Department of Labor Office of Workers Compensation Program ("DOL-OWCP"), which administers workers’ compensation benefits to federal employees who suffered an injury, disease, or death in the performance of duty. Gilmore is alleged to have conspired with another physician and a former United States Postal Service employee and union official to submit the false and fraudulent claims. The alleged false claims include claims for knee braces, including several instances where "DOL-OWCP" was billed for multiple expensive custom knee braces for a single claimant; physical therapy, including an instance where "DOL-OWCP" was billed for multiple hours of physical therapy while the claimant was having knee surgery; as well as platelet rich plasma treatments and at-home ultrasonic devices that were not medically necessary, never provided, and/or not provided as represented. In all, Gilmore and his co-conspirators submitted approximately $19 million in false and fraudulent claims to "DOL-OWCP", of which at least approximately $17 million was paid. Over $1 million was seized from bank accounts controlled by Gilmore. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Gary Martin, 62, of McKinney, Texas, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to solicit or receive kickbacks for referrals to a federal health care program and solicitation and receipt of kickbacks in connection with the submission of over $73 million in false and fraudulent medical claims to Medicare for over-the-counter COVID-19 (“OTC COVID-19”) tests in 2023. As alleged in the indictment, Martin, the owner of medical clinics, conspired with health care providers and other individuals to pay and receive kickbacks based on Medicare reimbursements for OTC COVID-19 tests. In order to bill Medicare for the claims, Martin and his co-conspirators are alleged to have provided Medicare patient information, to which they had access, to co-conspirators without the Medicare beneficiaries’ knowledge or consent and/or notwithstanding that they had not requested any OTC COVID-19 tests. In fact, as alleged in the indictment, in numerous instances the beneficiary was deceased. Once Medicare paid the claim, Martin’s co-conspirator allegedly paid a kickback based on the reimbursement. Martin’s co-defendant, Damon Heath Roberts, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to pay or offer to pay kickbacks for referrals to a federal health care program in connection with the scheme and is awaiting sentencing. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Khadeer Khan Mohammed, 44, a citizen of India, was charged by indictment with health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit false and fraudulent medical claims to Medicare for genetic testing that was allegedly never requested, ordered and/or performed. As alleged in the indictment, Mohammed, the owner of American Premier Labs LLC, located in Richardson, Texas, used the personal identifying information of physicians with no relationship to the Medicare beneficiaries, and without the physicians’ knowledge or consent, to submit the false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. In all, Mohammed caused the submission of approximately $93 million in false and fraudulent claims, of which approximately $65 million was paid, including payment of approximately $13 million over a single ten-day period in 2023. Nearly $6 million was seized from bank accounts controlled by Mohammed. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Olatunbosun Osukoya, 67, of Plano, Texas, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with the submission of over $25 million in false and fraudulent medical claims to Medicare, TRICARE, and other insurers for electroencephalogram (EEG) testing. As alleged in the indictment, Osukoya, the owner of Ayo Biometrics, LLC d/b/a Cambridge Diagnostics, sought out individuals with insurance plans to undergo expensive EEG testing and recruited and paid kickbacks and bribes to physicians and others to refer patients to Cambridge Diagnostics. To conceal the scheme and to make it appear that the services were necessary, Osukoya and his co-conspirators allegedly falsified diagnoses and falsely labeled kickback payments as loans, medical directorships, and consultation fees, among other things. Osukoya, through Cambridge Diagnostics, was paid over $5 million for the claims and is alleged to have paid out over $450,000 in illegal kickbacks. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

Southern District of Texas

Rami Abunakira, 39, of Richmond, Texas, was charged by information with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks and one count of payment of health care kickbacks in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests that were induced by kickbacks. As alleged in the information, Abunakira helped operate a Dallas-based laboratory called LabCare, including by communicating with marketers who were receiving illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiary DNA samples and signed doctors’ orders for genetic testing. During part of the time Abunakira operated LabCare, its beneficial owner—who had previously been indicted with health care fraud and kickback conspiracies for operating laboratories that billed Medicare for genetic testing and was prohibited from working in the health care or medical fields—had absconded from prosecution but continued to operate LabCare through Abunakira and through a straw owner. Abunakira assisted the beneficial owner in operating LabCare despite knowing that the beneficial owner was not supposed to be involved in owning or operating LabCare. While LabCare was operating, Abunakira set up a new lab called GeneTX. Although Abunakira was the beneficial owner of GeneTX, he concealed his ownership interest in GeneTX and enrolled GeneTX in Medicare through a nominee owner. While operating GeneTX, Abunakira negotiated illegal kickback arrangements with marketers, many of whom employed call centers and telemarketing campaigns to target Medicare beneficiaries, which Abunakira and the marketers concealed with sham hourly agreements and invoices that made it appear as though the marketers were being paid based on the number of hours worked and not on the volume of DNA samples and signed doctors’ orders sent to GeneTX. After Medicare issued a payment suspension to GeneTX, Abunakira began to bill Medicare for genetic testing through another laboratory called Appolo Precision, which like GeneTX, enrolled in Medicare by listing a nominee owner and concealing Abunakira’s ownership interest. As with GeneTX, Appolo received the DNA samples and signed doctors’ orders for genetic testing through illegal kickbacks to marketers that were concealed through sham hourly marketing agreements invoices. Abunakira and his co-conspirators submitted approximately $51.5 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare through the three laboratories, and Medicare paid approximately $33.5 million based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Andrew Tamayo and Monica Cooper of the Texas Strike Force.
Sacha Lashun Betts, 47, of Houston, Texas, Nicholas Aguillard, 49, of Rosenberg, Texas, Lisa Darlene Durden, 60, of Missouri City, Texas, Jordan O. Williams, 56, of Missouri City, Texas, Quincy Guillory, 51, of Richmond, Texas, Mykel Walker, 42, of Cypress, Texas, and Kaeita Rankin, 48, were all charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances in connection with the establishment, oversight, and operation of a drug trafficking organization that controlled more than a dozen “front” pharmacies used to sell opioids and other commonly abused prescription drugs, often in bulk, to street-level drug dealers on Houston’s black market. As alleged in the indictment, from 2015 through 2022, the defendants’ pharmacies unlawfully distributed and dispensed more than 4.4 million doses of opioids and other commonly abused prescription drugs, with an estimated street value exceeding $75 million. Betts first served as a pharmacist at two Houston-area ProMed Pharmacy locations she owned; however, beginning in or around 2019, Betts financed and controlled the enterprise’s pharmacies off-paper, often remotely. In one charged conspiracy, Betts conspired with Durden, a pharmacist; Williams, a financier and sometimes-drug runner; Guillory, a drug trafficker; and Rankin, who would find pharmacies for the enterprise to purchase, set them up, and then assist in shutting them down and reselling them. Aguillard is charged with conspiring with Betts to unlawfully operate Houston-area pharmacy WeCare in the same manner. Walker is charged with conspiring with Betts to operate Houston-area pharmacy Humble and Pacific. As alleged, the co-conspirators all sold opioids and other commonly abused prescription drugs to street-level drug traffickers in exchange for cash. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Drew Pennebaker of the Texas Strike Force.
Jason Bruce, 56, of League City, Texas, and Gerren Brignac, 36, of Rosharon, Texas, were charged by Indictment; and Ronald Martin, 45, of Sugarland, Texas, was charged by information, all with conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances in connection with their ownership and operation of Ennis St. Pharmacy. As alleged in the indictment and information, Bruce and Martin owned Ennis St. Pharmacy, which distributed approximately 113,000 pills of hydrocodone and more than 73,000 pills of carisoprodol between November 2019 and August 2020. During part of that time, Brignac worked as Ennis St. Pharmacy’s pharmacist-in-charge. As alleged, the co-conspirators sold controlled substances to street-level drug traffickers, which were referred to as “runners,” in exchange for cash. In addition, Bruce owned a pharmacist staffing company from which he allegedly supplied pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to several other Houston-area pill mill pharmacies. The case is being prosecuted by Acting Assistant Chief Devon Helfmeyer of the Texas Strike Force.
Trevor L. Cherry, 51, of Houston, Texas, Douglas M. Parks III, 35, of Katy, Texas, and Evelyn Ngozi-Emeka Onukwube, 53, of Noblesville, Indiana, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and illegal distribution of a controlled substance in connection with their diversion of approximately half a million opioids onto the black market. Cherry and Parks were also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. As alleged in the indictment, Cherry, Parks, and Onukwube, a licensed pharmacist, used Houston-area pharmacies as fronts and pass-throughs to facilitate their crimes, ultimately selling controlled substances with an estimated street value of at least $8 million to drug dealers. Cherry’s role in the scheme included picking up controlled substances at the subject pharmacies and delivering them to black market buyers. Parks, who served as the paper owner of one of the pharmacies but is not a pharmacist, also filled prescriptions for controlled substances and assisted Cherry in diverting these drugs onto the black market. Parks and Cherry also made cash deposits into various bank accounts in amounts meant to evade detection by banks and law enforcement. Onukwube, who served as pharmacist-in-charge at the subject pharmacies, facilitated the scheme by inappropriately ordering and dispensing opioids and other commonly abused prescription drugs—providing a steady stream of the drugs for Parks and Cherry to divert onto the black market. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Drew Pennebaker and Benjamin Smith of the Texas Strike Force.
Alvin Elliott, 56, of Katy, Texas, was charged by indictment with four counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances, specifically 211 oxycodone pills, 812 hydrocodone pills, and 2,043 carisoprodol (Soma) pills. As alleged in the indictment, Elliott owned and operated Houston-area pharmacies. Elliott illegally sold the controlled substances to another individual, who arranged for their pickup by black market buyers, couriers, and others. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Gary A. Crosby II of the Gulf Coast Strike Force.
Chad Harper, 49, of Pearland, Texas, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks, paying health care kickbacks, bank fraud conspiracy, bank fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from a specified unlawful activity, all in connection with a $115 Medicare fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Harper owned multiple laboratories through which he billed Medicare approximately $115 million for genetic and other diagnostic testing that was induced by kickbacks and bribes, medically unnecessary, or otherwise ineligible for Medicare. Medicare paid Harper’s laboratories approximately $73 million based on these claims. The Indictment alleges that Harper generated business through a nationwide network of marketers who directed referrals to the laboratories in exchange for illegal kickbacks that Harper paid through shell companies. Harper funded his operation through, among other ways, obtaining a fraudulent “equipment loan” from a local credit union. Finally, Harper allegedly laundered the proceeds of his schemes through other shell companies, which purchased and held real properties and assets and passed profits on to Harper. The case is being prosecuted by Acting Assistant Chief Devon Helfmeyer and Trial Attorneys Adam Tisdall and Andrew Tamayo of the Texas Strike Force, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
David Jenson, 57, and Nestor Rafael Romero Magallanes, 29, of Spring, Texas, were charged by superseding indictment with conspiracy, health care fraud, and money laundering in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare $90 million for highly expensive skin substitutes. Jenson is a podiatrist who owned Doctor’s Inc., a clinic in the suburbs north of Houston. Romero was the clinic’s chief executive officer. As alleged in the superseding indictment, the defendants submitted claims for highly expensive skin substitutes for patients that did not have qualifying wounds, or any wounds at all. The defendants were warned that their billing was improper when they were audited in early 2023, yet they continued to bill after the audit. In addition, in the weeks following a search warrant, defendants pressured patients into writing false statements claiming they had qualifying wounds in an attempt to interfere with the investigation. Over $70 million in cryptocurrency and $13 million from the clinic’s bank account has been seized. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brad Gray and Kathryn Olson of the Southern District of Texas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristine Rollinson is handling forfeiture matters.
Daphne Johnson, 60, of Stafford, Texas, was charged by information with health care fraud in connection with a scheme to bill Medicaid $793,804 for mental health therapy services she never provided. As alleged in the information, Johnson received $331,112 as a result of her fraudulent scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Alum of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Larry Lorentsen, 39, and Brandon Lorentsen, 30, both of Port Richie, Florida, were charged by information with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a $70.5 million durable medical equipment (“DME”) fraud scheme. As alleged in the information, the Lorentsens purchased Medicare beneficiary information and used straw owners for purported DME suppliers and laboratories to bill Medicare for orthotic braces and COVID-19 over-the-counter test kits that were medically unnecessary, ineligible for reimbursement, not requested or desired by the beneficiaries, not provided as represented, and/or procured through the payment of illegal kickbacks and bribes. Larry Lorentsen and others allegedly submitted approximately $63.2 million in false and fraudulent claims for DME, for which Medicare paid approximately $29.4 million. Brandon Lorentsen and others allegedly submitted approximately $7.3 million in false and fraudulent claims, for which Medicare paid approximately $2.9 million. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ethan Womble of the Texas Strike Force and Senior Litigation Counsel Catherine Wagner of the National Rapid Response Strike Force.
Nathaniel Mitchell, 56, and Raquel Mitchell, 42, both of Pearland, Texas, and Tracy Flanigan, 56, and Robin Turner, 58, both of Houston, Texas, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances and six counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances. As alleged in the indictment, Nathaniel Mitchell and Raquel Mitchell, along with pharmacist-in-charge Robin Turner, operated RM Pharmacy as a front for illegal drug distribution, rather than for conducting legitimate pharmacy business. Raquel Mitchell ordered controlled substances on behalf of the pharmacy while knowing and intending that those controlled substances would be illegally distributed and dispensed to drug traffickers, including Flanigan, and handled the cash proceeds from the illegal sales. Nathaniel Mitchell coordinated with drug traffickers, including Flanigan, to bring patients with illegitimate prescriptions for controlled substances to the pharmacy. Turner then filled the prescriptions knowing that they were issued without a legitimate medical purpose. Flanigan recruited and transported individuals to obtain illegitimate prescriptions for opioids and fill the prescriptions at RM Pharmacy. Flanigan then paid the individuals for the drugs and resold the drugs to other dealers and street-level users. Through RM Pharmacy, the defendants are alleged to have illegally dispensed at least 113,900 pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone and at least 28,300 carisoprodol pills. The case is being prosecuted by Counsel to the Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit Alexis Gregorian and Trial Attorney Claire Horrell of the Florida Strike Force.
Tyneza P. Mitchell, 43, of Spring, Texas, was charged by indictment with wire fraud in connection with a scheme to bill the COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured Program for in-office consultations regarding COVID diagnosis and treatment she never provided. As alleged in the indictment, Mitchell, a licensed nurse practitioner, received at least $2,129,500.33 as a result of her fraudulent scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Lu and Thomas Carter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Carlos Munoz, 57, of Richmond, Texas was charged by information in connection with a bribery scheme. Munoz, a medical doctor, is alleged to have been paid approximately $305,000 in kickbacks and bribes by Dera Ogudo, owner of United Palliative & Hospice (“UPHC”), to certify and re-certify Medicare and Medicaid patients for hospices services that they didn’t need or qualify for. As a result of this scheme, Ogudo and UPHC submitted or caused the submission of over $59 million in claims for hospice services that were medically unnecessary and/or predicated on illegal kickbacks, of which over $42 million was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Olson and Brad Gray of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Dera Ogudo, 39, of Richmond, Texas, Victoria Martinez, 35, of Richmond, Texas and Evelyn Shaw, 52, of Houston, Texas were charged by indictment with a $110 million health care fraud and kickbacks scheme. According to the indictment, Ogudo and Martinez operated a hospice company, United Palliative & Hospice Company (“UPHC”), that misled vulnerable elderly adults living in Houston-area group homes or assisted living facilities, or recently discharged from a local psychiatric hospital, about what services were being billed to their Medicare and Medicaid plans. According to court documents, UPHC Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and/or their family members believed they would be receiving “palliative” or “home health services.” In truth, these patients were enrolled in hospice services and were not actually terminally ill as required by Medicare and Medicaid. Ogudo allegedly paid kickbacks to several group home owners in exchange for enrolling their Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in hospice with UPHC. Ogudo also paid kickbacks to Shaw in exchange for referrals from a local psychiatric hospital where Shaw was employed as discharge coordinator. Later in 2024, when the investigation became known, Ogudo and Martinez transferred patients to two new hospice companies, Residential and Cedar Hospices under Martinez’s purported ownership to disguise the involvement of Ogudo and continue billing Medicare. Medicare and Medicaid paid approximately $87 million to UPHC, Residential and Cedar Hospices based on false and fraudulent claims. Over $5 million in bank accounts and properties has been seized. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Olson and Brad Gray of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fyffe is handling asset forfeiture.
Augustine “Austin” Onyeka, 53, of Richmond, Texas, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances for diverting approximately 216,500 pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone onto the black market. As alleged in the indictment, Onyeka, the co-director of Tulipanes Pharmacy, purchased and coached his co-conspirator how to purchase large quantities of Schedule II controlled substances and then sold them in bulk to drug traffickers who he called his “homeboys.” The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Yael Mash of Texas Strike Force.
Okwudili “Okwy” Okpara, 60, of Sugarland, Texas, was charged by information with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances for diverting 216,500 pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone onto the black market. As alleged in the information, Okpara, the pharmacist-in-charge of Tulipanes Pharmacy, purchased and facilitated the sale of large quantities of Schedule II controlled substances to drug traffickers. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Yael Mash of Texas Strike Force.
Keilan Peterson a/k/a “Young Jay” a/k/a “Jay,” 38, of Houston, Texas and Kimberly Martinez, 47, of Houston, Texas were charged by indictment for their alleged participation in a scheme to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances in exchange for cash through Relief Medical Center and GroveCare clinics in Houston, Texas. As alleged in the indictment, Peterson paid three doctors to allow Peterson, Martinez, and others at the clinics to use the doctors’ electronic prescribing credentials to issue prescriptions for significant amounts of hydrocodone, carisoprodol, and oxycodone. Peterson also allegedly sent some of these illegitimate prescriptions to his own pharmacy, Next Level Pharmacy, that he owned through a straw owner, and took possession of the controlled substances to sell on the black market. As alleged in the indictment, investigators located at Peterson’s residence five pill bottles of oxycodone and a bag with 92 grams of loose oxycodone pills. In total, the indictment alleges that over 2 million controlled substance pills, including over 250,000 oxycodone pills, over 1.3 million hydrocodone pills, and over 720,000 carisoprodol pills, were issued by Peterson, Martinez, and others at Relief Medical and GroveCare clinics, the vast majority of which was unauthorized, were issued without a legitimate medical purpose, and outside the usual course of professional practice. Over $150,000 in cash, jewelry, and properties was seized in connection with the charges. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Olson and Christine Lu of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas; Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fyffe is handling asset forfeiture.
Dr. Maryam “Meg” Qayum, 67, of New Caney, Texas, Jared Williams, 48, of Pearland, Texas, and Tomi-Ko Bowers, 70, Lester “Lay” Stokes, 37, and Melvin Sampson, 55, all of Houston, Texas, and were charged by indictment with multiple counts of illegally distributing a controlled substance. Dr. Qayum, Bowers, Stokes, and Sampson were also charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and Dr. Qayum and Bowers were charged with engaging in monetary transactions in proceeds of specified unlawful activities. The charges stem from the defendants’ role in diverting more than 3 million opioids onto the black market. As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Qayum (a medical doctor), Bowers (an advanced practice registered nurse), and Stokes operated Recare Clinic in Kingwood, Texas, as a pill mill, selling oxycodone and hydrocodone prescriptions to drug traffickers in exchange for cash. Sampson is alleged to be one such drug trafficker, who recruited individuals to pose as patients, paid cash for the prescriptions from Dr. Qayum, filled Dr. Qayum’s prescriptions at complicit pharmacies, and resold the drugs on the black market. Among the complicit pharmacies where Sampson filled Dr. Qayum’s illegitimate prescriptions was Surge Rx, where Williams was owner and pharmacist-in-charge. In addition, Dr. Qayum and Bowers are charged with conducting transactions with the proceeds of their drug crimes. The case is being prosecuted by Acting Assistant Chief Devon Helfmeyer of the Texas Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Olson of the Southern District of Texas.
Richard Rose, Jr., 51, of Manvel, Texas, Avayetta Montegue, 62, of Richmond, Texas, and Porshette Boykin, 36, Tyisha Robinson, 33, and Byron Clark, 40, all of Houston, Texas, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances. As alleged in the indictment, Rose owned and operated Live Rite Pharmacy and Meds4Less Pharmacy, and he maintained the businesses to create a veneer of legitimacy. Montegue, the pharmacist-in-charge at both pharmacies, filled prescriptions that she knew were illegitimate, often handed over in batches directly to drug traffickers. Boykin and Robinson, pharmacy technicians, ordered controlled substances, coordinated pickups by drug traffickers, and collected cash for deposit into nominee bank accounts. Clark recruited people to pose as patients and obtain illegitimate prescriptions to be filled at Rose’s pharmacies. He then paid them for the drugs and resold the drugs to other dealers and street-level users. The defendants and others, through Live Rite Pharmacy, allegedly purchased at least 566,000 pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone and at least 51,874 carisoprodol pills. In addition, Rose, Boykin, and Robinson are charged in a money laundering conspiracy for disguising the criminal proceeds through structuring and layered bank transactions via shell accounts. Finally, Rose, Montegue, and Clark are charged with two counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing a controlled substance. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Erika V. Suhr of the Los Angeles Strike Force.
Harold Shatz, 85, of Boca Raton, Florida, and Edward Shatz, 71, of Delray Beach, Florida, were charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests that were induced by kickbacks. As alleged in the information, Harold Shatz and Edward Shatz negotiated an illegal kickback arrangement between laboratories in Houston, Texas, and marketers who operated call centers that solicited Medicare beneficiaries for genetic testing. Under this arrangement, the call center marketers ran telemarketing campaigns targeting Medicare beneficiaries and paid telemedicine companies to obtain signed doctors’ orders for genetic testing, which the call center marketers sold to Houston laboratories Access DX and New Dawn in exchange for a forty percent kickback on Medicare reimbursements of the referred genetic tests. The defendants, the call center marketers, and their co-conspirators concealed their kickback arrangement with sham hourly marketing contracts and invoices. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Andrew Tamayo and Monica Cooper of the Texas Strike Force.
Andre Williams, 53, of Pearland, Texas, and Monique Washington, 44, of Fairburn, Georgia, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances in connection with their ownership and operation of a Houston-area pill-mill pharmacy. As alleged in the indictment, from in or around August 2023 through in or around March 2025, Williams and Washington ran ServMed Pharmacy as a front so that they could purchase opioids and other commonly abused prescription drugs and sell them onto the black market for cash. In that way, Williams and Washington purchased approximately 57,000 pills of oxycodone 30 mg, 44,000 pills of hydrocodone 10-325 mg, 70,500 pills of carisoprodol 350 mg, 36,500 pills of alprazolam 2 mg, and 164 pints of promethazine with codeine, said drugs having a street value of over $2.8 million. As alleged, the drugs were then unlawfully distributed, in bulk, to drug traffickers, for cash; there were no patients, prescriptions, or physicians involved. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Drew Pennebaker of the Texas Strike Force.
Brandy Williams, 42, of Houston, Texas was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive kickbacks for participating in a scheme to pay illegal health care kickbacks in exchange for prescriptions for medically unnecessary footbath drugs. As alleged in the information, Williams offered and paid kickbacks to her co-conspirator, a podiatrist, in exchange for the referral of prescriptions for medically unnecessary footbath drugs that were ultimately billed to Medicare. As a result of this scheme, between January 2021 and March 2022, Williams’s pharmacy was paid over $4 million by Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Monica Cooper of the Texas Strike Force.

Western District of Texas

Hector Almanza, 41, and Diana Almanza, 39, both of San Antonio, Texas, were charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks in connection with a hospice fraud scheme. As alleged in the information, the Almanzas paid marketers illegal kickbacks to induce Medicare beneficiary referrals to the Almanzas’ company, Four Winds Hospice. Based on those referrals, the Almanzas caused the submission of $1,692,950 in false and fraudulent claims for hospice services that were procured through illegal kickback and bribes, medically unnecessary, and ineligible for Medicare reimbursement. Medicare paid approximately $529,287 based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ethan Womble of the Texas Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Chung of the Western District of Texas.

District of Vermont

Evelyn Herrera, 61, of Loxahatchee, Florida, was charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a $6.5 million durable medical equipment (“DME”) fraud scheme. According to the complaint, Herrera owned DME supply company Merida Medical Supplies Inc. and caused the submission of $6.5 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for wrist, knee, and back braces and other equipment that were never provided to beneficiaries, not prescribed by their medical providers, and medically unnecessary. Medicare paid approximately $2.8 million based on those claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sarah Rocha, Thomas Campbell, and Tiffany Wynn of the New England Strike Force.
Donald Jani, 39, of Maharashtra, India, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud in connection with a $1.9 million durable medical equipment (“DME”) fraud scheme. As alleged in the indictment, Jani owned DME supply company CSS Pain Relief, Inc. and caused the submission of $1.9 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for orthotic braces and glucose monitors that were never provided to beneficiaries, medically unnecessary, and ineligible for Medicare reimbursement. Medicare paid approximately $790,000 based on these claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sarah Rocha, John Howard, and Thomas Campbell of the New England Strike Force.
Manthan Rohit Shah, 37, of Mumbai, India, was charged by indictment with conspiring to violate the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, conspiring to import controlled substances, and conspiring to commit international concealment money laundering. As alleged in the indictment, Shah owned and operated a pharmaceutical drug supply company based in Mumbai, India, that shipped controlled substances and misbranded pharmaceutical drugs, including drugs that contained potentially potent, dangerous, and/or addictive substances, into New England and across the United States. Shah conspired with others to direct the shipment of pharmaceutical drugs for a network of online pharmacies and call centers that fulfilled orders placed by customers in the United States and elsewhere. He further provided fake prescriptions to make the otherwise illegal drugs appear legitimate for import into the United States. Shah then conspired with others to launder the funds from financial accounts in the United States to accounts abroad. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Thomas Campbell and John Howard of the New England Strike Force and Patrick Brown of the Fraud Section’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit.

Eastern District of Virginia

Lori Adcock, 54, of Hampstead, North Carolina, was charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to overcharge Medicaid for environmental modifications to homes or vehicles such as installing wheelchair ramps or grab bars in showers, which scheme cost Medicaid approximately $213,210.69 attributable to Adcock. As alleged in the complaint, Adcock was the operations manager of Ability Unlimited, a Medicaid provider whose business centered on facilitating but not performing environmental modifications, and Medicaid did not allow facilitators that performed no actual labor to charge a separate profit margin. Adcock was the manager of the fraudulent scheme to hide Ability Unlimited’s arbitrary and often exorbitant profit margins in the subcontractor costs. For example, Ability Unlimited purchased a generator from Amazon.com for less than $1000 and had it shipped directly to the Medicaid recipient, but charged Medicaid $3,395.16, listing the generator cost in an altered invoice as $2,610.16, and including an additional labor cost of $785 despite the direct shipment of the generator. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shea Gibbons of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Keri Ayres, 50, of Warrenton, Virginia, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to overcharge Medicaid for environmental modifications to homes or vehicles such as installing wheelchair ramps, or grab bars in showers, which scheme cost Medicaid approximately $245,000. As alleged in the information, Ayres was the owner of Ability Unlimited, a Medicaid provider whose business centered on facilitating but not performing environmental modifications, and Medicaid did not allow facilitators that performed no actual labor to charge a separate profit margin. Ayres directed her employees to hide their arbitrary and often exorbitant profit margins in the subcontractor costs. For example, Ability Unlimited purchased a generator from Amazon.com for less than $1000 and had it shipped directly to the Medicaid recipient, but charged Medicaid $3,395.16, listing the generator cost in an altered invoice as $2,610.16, and including an additional labor cost of $785 despite the direct shipment of the generator. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shea Gibbons of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Jawad Bhatti, 54, of Richmond, Virginia, was charged by indictment with health care fraud, false statements related to health care matters, receiving adulterated and misbranded devices, and administering a misbranded drug in connection with schemes to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. As alleged in the indictment, Bhatti received in interstate commerce three FDA-unapproved devices that produced medical ozone gas, which the FDA has described as “a toxic gas that with no known useful medical application in specific, adjunctive, or preventive therapy.” Bhatti then advertised these devices on his website and used them in his pain management practice. Bhatti advertised to patients ozone’s benefits, to include that it treats cancer, AIDS, arthritis, and lower back pain, and improves weight management, sexual stamina, energy, and mental acuity. When Bhatti injected ozone into patients’ necks, backs, toes, and scalps, many reported it to be the worst pain they had ever experienced. To disguise his unapproved ozone treatments from the FDA, Medicare, and Medicaid, he falsely billed ozone and other treatments as nerve blocks.Additionally, Bhatti falsely billed Medicare and Medicaid for using ultrasound to guide the insertion of a needle for his injections when in fact he either did not use an ultrasound at all or he only used the ultrasound after the injection was complete. Bhatti was by far the most prolific pain management biller of this procedure in Virginia. In total, Bhatti submitted and caused the submission of over $5,202,374.96 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shea Gibbons of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Yvoune Kara Petrie, 54, of Leesburg, Virginia was charged by information with health care fraud in connection with a scheme to bill CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) for medical services and products that were not provided to patients, not prescribed by a physician, and not medically necessary. As alleged in the information, Petrie was the president and chief operating officer of Virginia Integrative Health, a medical clinic that provided hyperbaric oxygen therapy (“HBOT”) to patients. Petrie recruited her family members and friends to participate in her fraud as patients and she submitted fraudulent claims based on profit rather than the services that were actually prescribed. Petrie hired physicians at her clinic, but then used at least four physician’s National Provider Identifiers (“NPIs”) without their knowledge or permission to submit fraudulent claims to CareFirst. For example, Petrie used one physician’s NPI to submit fraudulent HBOT claims for that physician, as if the physician prescribed HBOT treatment for himself, but the treatment was never provided nor prescribed. As a result of the fraud scheme, Petrie caused at least $1,900,000 in actual loss to CareFirst. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary H. Ray of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Christina Schasse, 40, of Glen Allen, Virginia, was charged by information with criminal tampering. As alleged in the information, Schasse, while working as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, on three separate dates tampered with a Pyxis machine that contained fentanyl and Versed, by drawing syringes of fentanyl and Versed, placing them into her pockets, and then preparing syringes of Precedex (a non-scheduled sedative), mixed with saline, and then marked the syringes with preprinted labels misidentifying them as containing either fentanyl or Versed. The defendant then stored these mislabeled syringes in the Pyxis machine, knowing that the substituted drugs would be administered to patients. After the patient was sedated with Propofol, the defendant then administered the replacement substances she had placed inside the mislabeled syringes, to multiple patients during medical procedures. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Angela Mastandrea and Patrick J. McGorman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Kevin White, 56, of Richmond, Virginia was charged by information with health care fraud in connection with a scheme to bill Medicaid for residential group home services when the Medicaid recipients were hospitalized, incarcerated, or otherwise outside the group home. As alleged in the information, White was the owner of Ithiel Group, a Medicaid residential group home provider. White billed Medicaid for often-months-long periods when Medicaid group home residents were outside Ithiel’s group homes when they were hospitalized, incarcerated, or visiting their families. White and his managers often sent employees home because they lacked residents for which to care, but White billed Medicaid as if the residents were present. White even received funds from a separate Virginia agency to hold bed space for absent residents while at the same time charging Medicaid as if he were providing services to these same absent residents. As a result of the scheme, Medicaid was billed over $1,000,000, and paid $461,704.23, in false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shea Gibbons of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Western District of Washington

Pinnacle Health PC and Daniel Rasmussen, of Seattle, Washington, have agreed to pay the United States $1,115,976 to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act when Pinnacle billed for an injectable form of an amniotic fluid product called FlowerAmnioFlo. As alleged, Pinnacle billed for this product to both Medicare and Tricare despite it being considered experimental and not approved for any diagnosis. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nickolas Bohl of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Andrew Martin Voegel-Podadera, 35, of Seattle, Washington, was charged by complaint with obtaining controlled substances by fraud in connection with a scheme to divert medications for his own use. As alleged in the complaint, Voegel-Podadera was an anesthesiology resident who secretly took fentanyl, hydromorphone, and other medications over the course of at least a year while working at hospitals in Seattle. He sometimes used the diverted substances while still at the hospital, meaning he was under the influence of potent narcotics while treating patients. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Kopczynski and Amanda McDowell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

Northern District of West Virginia

Mitchell B. Stotland, 38, of Arcadia, California, was sued in a complaint alleging violations of the False Claims Act in connection with an illegal scheme to knowingly submit, and cause to be submitted, claims to the Medicare program for items and services that were tainted by kickbacks and were otherwise false or fraudulent. As alleged in the complaint, Stotland, as a physician, submitted false claims for payment by Medicare for durable medical equipment, ultraviolet light therapy devices, genetic cancer testing and foot bath medications. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Savino of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.

Cases Filed in State Court

California

Shireen Begum, 53, of Dublin, California; Dr. Mustafa Michael Kazemi, 64, of Rescue, California; Sarkhan Murad Koshkarli, 38, of San Ramon, California; Alok Malani, 39, of Danville, California; Dr. Narendra Malani, 65, of San Ramon, California; and Mohammed Abdul Majid Siddiqui, 49, of Dublin, California, were charged by complaint with healthcare insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit healthcare insurance fraud in connection with a $2.7 million hospice fraud scheme. As alleged in the complaint, the defendants fraudulently enrolled, certified and billed Medicaid of California (“Medi-Cal”) and Medicare for hospice care on behalf of their business, Careplus Hospice, Inc., even though the patients did not qualify for hospice services because they were not terminally ill. The case is being prosecuted by Ed Grubaugh and Bianca Yip of the California Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
Nannette Cabrales, 44, of Alhambra, California, was charged by complaint with medical fraud and grand theft in connection with In-Home Supportive Services (“IHSS”) fraudulent billings. As alleged in the complaint, from April 2019 to October 2021 Cabrales submitted timesheets claiming hours for services not rendered while her IHSS recipient was admitted into various care facilities. As a result of the scheme, IHSS paid Cabrales an approximate total of $31,738.06. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Kathryn Fernandez of the California Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
William Dodson Creighton, 78, of El Centro, California, was charged by complaint with insurance fraud, healthcare fraud, knowingly prescribing a controlled substance for other than a legitimate medical purpose, and furnishing a controlled substance. As alleged in the complaint, Creighton illegitimately prescribed promethazine with codeine on multiple occasions between October 11, 2023 to April 8, 2024. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Samuel S. Kim of the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
Maryam Erambakhsh, 51, of Santa Monica, California, was charged by complaint with insurance fraud, healthcare fraud, and grand theft in connection with In-Home Supportive Services (“IHSS”) fraudulent billings. As alleged in the complaint, Erambakhsh fraudulently billed for IHSS services rendered to her mother and father during the period of April 2015 through October 2022. Erambakhsh billed IHSS on several occasions for services purportedly rendered while she, her mother, and/or her father were out of the country, rendering it impossible for Erambakhsh to have administered, and for her mother and/or father to have received, the services billed. As a result of the scheme, IHSS paid Erambakhsh an approximate total of $32,478.98. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Samuel S. Kim of the California Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
Cindy Lynn Fromm, 70, of Berry Creek, California, was charged by complaint with presenting false Medicaid of California (“Medi-Cal”) claims and healthcare insurance fraud in connection with In-Home Supportive Services (“IHSS”) fraudulent billings. As alleged in the complaint, Fromm submitted fraudulent timecards to IHSS for services she claimed she rendered to an IHSS recipient over 14 months while the IHSS recipient was incarcerated. As a result of the scheme, IHSS paid Fromm an approximate total of $50,462.71. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Bianca Yip of the California Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, with assistance from the California Department of Healthcare Services.
Xylina Gilbert, 44, of Los Angeles, California, was charged by complaint with In-Home Supportive Services (“IHSS”) fraud, false claims, and grant theft in connection with a scheme to defraud the IHSS programs by submitting claims for healthcare services that were never performed or did not qualify for reimbursement under the rules. As alleged in the complaint, between May 2015 and October 2022, Gilbert submitted fraudulent timecards to IHSS for services she claimed she rendered while the IHSS recipient was either hospitalized or in-patient at a facility. As a result of the scheme, IHSS paid Gilbert an approximate total of $99,481. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Aishwarya Naidu of the California Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
Rhay Roxanne Taylor, 46, of San Diego, California, was charged by complaint with Medicaid of California (“Medi-Cal”) fraud and grand theft in connection with In-Home Supportive Services (“IHSS”) fraudulent billings. As alleged in the complaint, Taylor billed IHSS for services she claimed she rendered while the Medi-Cal beneficiary was hospitalized. As a result of the scheme, IHSS paid Taylor an approximate total of $49,324.60. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Mark J. Swensson of the California Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.
Everon Shaw, 61, of Bakersfield, California, was charged by complaint with dependent adult abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. As alleged in the complaint, while employed at a group home, Shaw used a bat to physically abuse a dependent adult under his care leaving visible injuries. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Kathryn Fernandez of the Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.

Illinois

Latresha M. Brooks, 32, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was charged by indictment with two counts of unlawful acquisition of controlled substance and two counts of unlawful possession of controlled substance. As alleged in the indictment, Brooks diverted hydrocodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, and Tramadol, a Schedule IV controlled substance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Ama E. Mends of the Illinois Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Carmenecia M. Dixon, 36, of Swansea, Illinois, was charged by information with forgery and practicing nursing without a license. As alleged in the information, Dixon delivered a false nurse license knowing it was false and practiced as a licensed practical nurse without a nursing license. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Ama E. Mends of the Illinois Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Kevin Lynum, 38, of Springfield, Illinois, was charged by indictment with identity theft, vendor fraud, theft, and forgery. As alleged in the information, Lynum delivered false home services time sheets to receive fraudulent payment. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Darren E. Price of the Illinois Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Xeana Woods, 37, of Springfield, Illinois, was charged by indictment with identity theft, vendor fraud, theft, and forgery. As alleged in the indictment, Woods delivered false home services time sheets to receive fraudulent payment. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Darren E. Price of the Illinois Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Indiana

Patrice Rene Amos, 44, of Avon, Indiana, was charged by information with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit, illegally possessing a narcotic drug, and failing to make, keep, or furnish a record as required by law. As alleged in the information, Amos, a registered nurse, diverted oxycodone intended for use by nursing home facility patients for her own personal use. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Kyle Sprunger of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Kayla Bell, 35, of Newburgh, Indiana, was charged by information with obstructing the delivery of a prescription drug, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit, illegally possessing a narcotic drug, and failing to make, keep, or furnish a record as required by law. As alleged in the information, Bell, a licensed practical nurse employed at a nursing home, diverted patient narcotics, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, for her own use. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Kyle Sprunger of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Jennifer Anne Brant, 62, of New Haven, Indiana, was charged by information with fraud and theft. As alleged in the information, Brant, a licensed home health aide, submitted claims to Indiana Medicaid representing that she had rendered in-home services for a patient in Fort Wayne, Indiana on dates that she was vacationing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Georgeanna Teipen of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Tara Tiara Brown, 43, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was charged by information with fraud and theft. As alleged in the information, Brown, an in-home personal care assistant, submitted timesheets claiming that she provided Medicaid-funded in-home care services when she was actually working at a jewelry store. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Georgeanna Teipen of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Catherine Elizabeth Grimes, 66, of Greencastle, Indiana, was charged by information with obtaining controlled substances by fraud or deceit and failure to make, keep, or furnish records. Grimes, a registered nurse, diverted medication from her patients, including diazepam, lorazepam, tramadol, phenobarbital, and buprenorphine and failed to accurately document the controlled substances being given to her patients while employed at an addiction treatment facility. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Georgeanna Teipen of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Billy Ray Guthrie, 48, of Knightstown, Indiana, was charged by information with furnishing false or fraudulent information and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit. As alleged in the information, Guthrie, a registered nurse, diverted medication from patients and obtained possession of the controlled substances for his own use while employed at Greenfield Healthcare Center, a nursing home. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Robin Gillman of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Sheri L. Hapner, 53, of Middlebury, Indiana, was charged by information with failure to make, keep or furnish records, furnishing false or fraudulent information, and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit. As alleged in the information, Hapner, a licensed practical nurse, diverted medication from patients and did not properly document the administration of medications, documented false information as to the administration of medication, and obtained possession of Norco (hydrocodone/acetaminophen) and oxycodone, for her own use, while employed at Waters of LaGrange Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Robin Gillman of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Christy A. Orwig, 58, of Madison, Indiana, was charged by information with failure to make, keep, or furnish records, furnishing false or fraudulent information, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit, and illegally possessing a narcotic drug. As alleged in the information, Orwig, a registered nurse, dispensed patient narcotics, including tramadol, and hydrocodone, for her own personal use while employed at Hanover Nursing Center. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Kyle Sprunger of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Lindsay Anne Plake, 40, of Elwood, Indiana, was charged by information with failure to make, keep, or furnish records, furnishing false or fraudulent information, and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit. As alleged in the information, Plake, a qualified medication aid, diverted medication from patients, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, and documented false information as to the administration of the medication while employed at an assisted living facility. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Georgeanna Teipen of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Dezarae Polinske, 30, of Elkhart, Wisconsin, was charged by information with furnishing false or fraudulent information and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit. As alleged in the information, Polinske, a registered nurse, diverted medication from a patient and obtained possession of a controlled substance for her own use while employed at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Robin Gillman of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Nathaniel G. Stimpson, 34, of Decatur, Indiana, was charged by information in Wells County with theft and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit and was charged by information in Adams County with theft and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit. Both informations allege that Stimpson, a registered nurse, stole medication from patients and obtained possession of the controlled substances for his own use while employed at Eleos Hospice Care. The cases are being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Robin Gillman of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Jenny F. Byrd, 41, of Oakland City, Indiana, was charged by information with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit, illegally possessing a narcotic drug, and failing to make, keep, or furnish a record as required by law. As alleged, Byrd, while employed at a nursing home, diverted narcotic drugs which were to be administered to patients for her own personal use. It is further alleged that Byrd admitted to diverting patient narcotics during the course of the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Kyle Sprunger of the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Louisiana

Megan Ambeau, 34, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged by complaint with cruelty to persons with infirmities in connection with abuse that occurred at a residential facility. As alleged in the arrest warrant, Ambeau, a direct service worker, committed intentional or criminally negligent mistreatment or neglect of a victim with an infirmity at a residential facility. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Krista Lorando of the Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
Alexis Brown, 26, of Hammond, Louisiana, was charged by information with cruelty to persons with infirmities in connection with abuse that occurred at a residential facility. As alleged in the information, Brown, a direct service worker, committed intentional or criminally negligent mistreatment or neglect of a victim with an infirmity at a residential facility. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Andrea Quick and Winston White of the Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
Ira F. Coleman, 64, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was charged by information with Medicaid fraud in connection with fraudulent billings he submitted for presentment of payment out of Medicaid monies. As alleged in the information, Coleman, a social worker, presented false claims for behavioral health services purportedly being rendered to clients when he was employed with a Medicaid provider of behavioral health services while simultaneously working at a secondary job where his clock-ins occurred during overlapping dates and times. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Tasha Stockwell of the Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
Alexis George, 22, of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, was charged by information with cruelty to persons with infirmities, and by separate information with abuse of persons with infirmities through electronic means, and abuse and neglect of adults, in connection with abuse that occurred at a residential facility. As alleged in the informations, George, a direct service worker, committed intentional or criminally negligent mistreatment or neglect of a victim with an infirmity at a residential facility. She further released a video of the abuse via social media and failed to report the abuse of the victim as required by law. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Andrea Quick and Winston White of the Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
Shassica Marie Jones, 35, of Monroe, Louisiana was charged by information with Medicaid fraud in connection with fraudulent billings she submitted for presentment of payment out of Medicaid monies. As alleged in the information, Jones, a direct service worker, presented false claims for personal care services purportedly being rendered to her father, a Medicaid recipient, when she was employed with a Medicaid provider of personal health care services while simultaneously working at a secondary job where her clock-ins occurred during overlapping dates and times. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Tasha Stockwell of the Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
Daysha Simmons, 29, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana was charged with Medicaid fraud. As alleged, from November 3, 2023 through June 7, 2024, Simmons, a direct service worker employed by a local health provider, falsely billed Medicaid for personal in home care services she claimed to have rendered to a Medicaid recipient. The defendant allegedly defrauded the Medicaid program of $17,334.72 through filing false claims for payment. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Winston White of the Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.

Massachusetts

Dwayne Anderson, Jr., 32, of Akron, Ohio, was charged by indictment with larceny, attempted larceny, false entry into corporate books, identity fraud, and forgery, in connection with a scheme to steal more than $24,375 in MassHealth funds from personal care attendants who had provided services to MassHealth members. As alleged in the indictments, Anderson, while working at a Medicaid subcontractor, changed direct deposit information for certain accounts to reroute payments that should have gone to personal care attendants to himself and his associates. This case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Counsel Elisha Willis and Investigations Supervisor Dean Bates, Senior Healthcare Fraud Investigator Vanessa Asiatidis, and Investigator Ashley Marquez, of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Division.

Michigan

James Alexander Carthron, 61, of Saginaw, Michigan, was charged by complaint with making false claims to Medicaid in connection with a scheme in which Carthron billed for services he did not render, totaling approximately $11,000.00. As alleged in the complaint, Carthron, a Medicaid enrolled provider, billed Medicaid for 23 telephone evaluation and management visits he claimed to have provided to three beneficiaries that he did not provide. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Timothy C. Erickson of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Michigan Department of Attorney General.
Daleena Taree Miller, 42, of Battle Creek, Michigan, was charged by complaint with making a false claim to Medicaid and intentionally placing false information on a medical chart, in connection with a scheme in which Miller caused Medicaid to be billed for services she did not render totaling $8,640.00. As alleged in the complaint, Miller, a Community Living Support worker for a Medicaid beneficiary, worked fewer hours than required and billed to Medicaid, documented false information of what services she provided and included inaccurate information in the Beneficiary’s medication administration record. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Deshawn Madha of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Michigan Department of Attorney General.

Missouri

Darrell Carr, 64, of Florissant, Missouri, was charged by complaint with making a false statement to receive a health care payment and stealing by deceit. As alleged in the complaint, from March 10, 2021, through February 22, 2023, Carr submitted 509 claims for personal care services to a Medicaid beneficiary that he never provided as he did not even know where the beneficiary lived. Additionally, on 344 separate days, Carr claimed he was providing personal care services for a Medicaid beneficiary while he was clocked in at another job. Medicaid paid Carr $37,819.39 based on these false claims. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons, John McKenzie and Lucas Chapman of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Ivorie Chambers, 40, of St. Louis, Missouri, was charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment and stealing by deceit. As alleged in the complaint, from November 2021 to August 2022, Chambers, through her company Healing Hands Home Care and Counseling Services, LLC, billed Medicaid for personal care services purportedly provided to three Medicaid recipients who were either hospitalized or deceased. Medicaid paid $5,124.50 based on these false and fraudulent claims. Of that, $1,965.91 has been recouped. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons and Stephen Nugent of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Randy Hale, 52, of Grain Valley, Missouri, and Sheila Hale, 48, of Grain Valley, Missouri, were each charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment, stealing by deceit, and identity theft. As alleged in the complaints, the defendants owned and operated Bridgeway Clinics, LLC, a behavioral health care facility. Although they were neither licensed nor qualified to provide mental health services, the Hales mispresented themselves as licensed professionals. To fraudulently bill Medicaid, the Hales stole the Medicaid provider numbers of three legitimately licensed individuals. Between April 2022 and March 2023, the Hales submitted 462 false claims for unlicensed, unqualified, and inadequate care provided to 15 recipients, including several children. Medicaid paid $51,115.08 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons and Stephen Nugent of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Joyce Jacox, 59, of St. Louis, Missouri, and Laila Pruitt, 22, of Florissant, Missouri, were each charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment and stealing by deceit. As alleged in the complaints, from June to September 2022, Jacox paid an unnamed attendant $100 per month to falsely bill Medicaid for unprovided services and split the money with her. The attendant eventually refused to continue and reported the fraud. From October 2022 to June 2024, Jacox ran the same scheme with Pruitt. Medicaid paid $27,710.27 based on these false and fraudulent claims—$8,058.27 on Jacox’s initial scheme and $19,652.00 on Jacox’s scheme with Pruitt. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons and Stephen Nugent of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Jessie Liggins, 65, of St. Louis, Missouri, Bertina Burris-Liggins, 53, of St. Louis, Missouri, and Rhonda Johnston, 63, of Hazelwood, Missouri were each charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment; Liggins and Burris-Liggins were also charged with stealing by deceit. As alleged in the complaints, Johnston owned Aging in Your Place, LLC (“Aging in Your Place”), an in-home personal care services company that employed Liggins and Burris-Liggins as personal care assistants, through which they billed Medicaid for services that were never provided. Liggins fraudulently enrolled two Medicaid recipients for personal care services that they did not need with Burris-Liggins as their caregiver. Johnston, Liggins, and Burris-Liggins then falsely claimed that Aging in Your Place provided in-home care to the Medicaid recipients based on 316 fabricated time records for visits that did not occur. Medicaid paid $85,759.87 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons and Stephen Nugent of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Kendall L. Morris, 33, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment and stealing by deceit. As alleged in the complaint, in October 2023, Morris brought a developmentally disabled Medicaid recipient in his care to Tennessee, where he assaulted him. He was prosecuted for the assault in Tennessee. Morris then submitted false timesheets claiming that he provided care to the Medicaid recipient during that period. Medicaid paid $2,071.58 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons, John McKenzie and Lucas Chapman of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Grant Mugge, 41, of Olivette, Missouri, was charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment and stealing by deceit. As alleged in the complaint, from August 2022 to February 2023, Mugge billed Medicaid as though he was providing in-home personal care to a disabled Medicaid recipient while the individual was either at day camp or in Florida. Medicaid paid $10,643.85 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons and Stephen Nugent of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Tammy Stanley-Barr, 53, of St. Louis, Missouri, and Diamond Stanley, 24, of St. Louis, Missouri, were each charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment and stealing by deceit. As alleged in the complaints, Stanley-Barr, a Medicaid participant, falsely claimed that she needed personal care services while working at a job at a local hospital that required the same physical tasks she purportedly could not perform. Stanley-Barr hired Stanley, who also had a full-time job, to be her personal care assistant. From August 1, 2023, to September 14, 2024, Barr falsely logged 265 instances of care, including 100 times when one or both women were working elsewhere. Medicaid paid $26,976.34 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorneys General Arvids V. Petersons, John McKenzie and Lucas Chapman of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Veronica E. Whitt, 56, of St. Louis, Missouri, was charged by complaint with false statement to receive a health care payment and stealing by deceit for their roles in a Medicaid fraud scheme. As alleged in the complaints, Whitt operated “Christ Did It All In-Home Services,” a company that provided in-home personal care to Medicaid recipients. Whitt purportedly served as a personal care assistant for Medicaid recipients. Between July 6, 2022, and May 1, 2023. Whitt and co-conspirator Karen Gregory collaborated to fraudulently use a recipient’s Medicaid identification information to submit false claims for personal care services that were never provided. Medicaid paid $16,360.84 based on these false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Cole County Missouri Prosecutor Wm. Locke Thompson and Assistant Attorney General Arvids V. Petersons of the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

New York

A Nice Ride, a Medicaid transportation company in Colonie, New York, and its owner, Shaniqua Thompson, 37, of Schenectady, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $28,075.43 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for transportation services and inflated toll payments. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Patrick Scully of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Agape Luxury Corp., a Medicaid transportation company in Bronx, New York, and its owner, Mario Sena, 66, of White Plains, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $2,450,000 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicare for transportation services that did not occur as described on the claim. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Edward Bradley of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Angel Medical Transportation Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in Schenectady, New York, and its owner, Mohammad Chaudry, 52, of Schenectady, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $1,100,000 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for transportation services that did not occur, did not occur as described in the claims, and that were provided by drivers who lacked proper licensure. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Emily Auletta of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
James Bessell, 65, of Shirley, New York was charged by complaint with grand larceny, health care fraud, offering a false instrument for filing, and payment of kickbacks for his role in a Medicaid fraud scheme. As alleged in the complaint, Bessell, owned Jim Jim Rentals, Inc., a Medicaid-enrolled non-emergency medical transportation provider and billed Medicaid for purported transportation services that were never actually provided, causing Medicaid to pay Jim Jim Rentals, Inc. over $1 million. Bessell also operated an illegal kickback scheme, paying Medicaid recipients for their purported use of his transportation services. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorneys General Christina Pinnola, Matthew DeSaro, and Niki Slattery of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Buzz Transport, LLC, a Medicaid transportation company located in Hudson, New York, and its owner, Randolph Rhymaun, 72, of Hudson, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $363,995.00 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims and was reimbursed by Medicaid for tolls the company did not in fact incur. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Emily Auletta of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Buffalo Taxi Services Inc. d/b/a American Transportation, a Medicaid transportation company located in Amherst, New York, and its owner, Aws Almafrachi, age 34, were sued in Erie County Supreme Court. The civil lawsuit, which is pending, alleges that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for transportation services that did not have any corresponding medical appointment. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages in the amount of at least $563,904.68, as well as civil penalties and injunctive relief requiring the defendants to follow federal and state laws and rules governing the Medicaid program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Thomas Schleif of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Dutchess Black Car Service, LLC, a Medicaid transportation company located in Lagrangeville, New York, and its owner, Said Khan, 54, were sued in Rockland County Supreme Court. The civil lawsuit alleges that the company fraudulently billed Medicaid by submitting claims for transportation services that were never provided and for tolls that were either not incurred or improperly inflated. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages in the amount of at least $2,276,850.28, as well as civil penalties and injunctive relief requiring the defendants to follow federal and state laws and rules governing the Medicaid program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Samantha McCullagh of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Equaltrans, LLC, a Medicaid transportation company, and its owner, Elvy Cabreja, 53, of Mount Vernon, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $224,892.01 to resolve allegations that the company submitted toll reimbursement claims to Medicaid for trips that did not occur. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Edward Bradley of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Green Cab BNY Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in Cheektowaga, New York, and its owner, William Mills, 40, were sued in Erie County Supreme Court. The civil lawsuit alleges that the company overbilled Medicaid by inflating the mileage on transportation service claims, leading to higher payments than it was entitled to receive. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages in the amount of at least $2,385,398.54, as well as civil penalties and injunctive relief requiring the defendants to follow federal and state laws and rules governing the Medicaid program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Thomas Schleif of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
JD Express, Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in Forest Hills, New York, and its owner Jose David Eufracio Hernandez, 45, of Woodstock, Georgia, reached a civil settlement to pay $331,000 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for toll expenses not actually incurred and transportation services provided by unlicensed, under licensed or suspended drivers, provided in vehicles not properly registered, or not provided at all. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Edward Bradley of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Lak Sam, Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in Glenmont, New York, and its owner, Samanth Paththage, 47, of Glenmont, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $119,708.88 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for transportation services that did not occur and for toll expenses that were not incurred. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Emily Auletta of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Crystal Miller, age 42, of Brookfield, New York, was charged by complaint with grand larceny, offering a false instrument for filing, and falsifying business records in connection with a $20,000 scheme to defraud Medicaid. As alleged in the complaint, Miller, a licensed practical nurse, submitted claims for home health hours worked that greatly exceeding her actual service hours and illegally split her Medicaid reimbursements with a collusive patient. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Jane Raven of the New York Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
David Moore, 56, of Interlaken, New York, was charged by information with grand larceny. As alleged in the information, between January 2019 through August 2023, Moore, as the owner of ASAP 2, a transportation provider in Tompkins, New York, submitted and caused to be submitted claims for payment to Medicaid that were the product of unlawful kickback payments to multiple Medicaid recipients and which were also falsely inflated by substantially increasing the claimed mileage for trips that were taken. Medicaid paid ASAP 2 over $50,000 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General William Gargan of the New York State Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
NBT Transportation Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in the Bronx, New York, and its owner, Roberto Bueno, 47, of the Bronx, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $1,516,617.00 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for toll expenses not actually incurred. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Edward Bradley of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Rachel Paillet, 57, of Rochester, New York, was charged by complaint with grand larceny. As alleged in the complaint, Paillet worked at the Pearl Nursing Center in various capacities, including as a certified nurse aide. Between April and November 2023, Paillet stole over $50,000 from a Medicaid patient and longtime nursing home resident with dementia, through unauthorized use of the patient’s debit card. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Buckley of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
SMI Transportation Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in Buffalo, New York, and its owner, Payam Jalal a/k/a Shivan Mohammed, age 38, were sued in Erie County Supreme Court. The civil lawsuit alleges that the company overbilled Medicaid by inflating the mileage on transportation service claims, leading to higher payments than it was entitled to receive, and employed a driver who provided Medicaid transportation services who had been previously excluded from providing Medicaid services due to a prior criminal conviction for Medicaid fraud. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages in the amount of at least $96,827.10, as well as civil penalties and injunctive relief requiring the defendants to follow federal and state laws and rules governing the Medicaid program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Thomas Schleif of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Tembocare Transportation Express LLC, a Medicaid transportation company located in Halfmoon, New York, and its owners, Amourice Ngowi, 35, and Lusajo Kyoso, 34, were sued in Saratoga County Supreme Court. The civil lawsuit alleges that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for transportation services in which it did not accurately report the driver’s license number of the driver who provided the service on payment claims, and that the business inflated the mileage of trips driven, thereby fraudulently increasing the amount of money it was paid from Medicaid. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages in the amount of at least $294,981.65, as well as civil penalties and injunctive relief requiring the defendants to follow federal and state laws and rules governing the Medicaid program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Patrick Scully of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
U.S. Trips and Trade, Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in Westchester, New York, its owner, Aqib Sabir, 32, of Yonkers, New York, and high managerial agent Aamir Sabir, 36, of Yonkers, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $500,000.00 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for tolls that were inflated or had not actually been incurred. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Samantha McCullagh of the New York Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Vic and Bay Care Service, Inc., a Medicaid transportation company located in Staten Island, New York, and its owner, Kashif Mahmood, 42, of Staten Island, New York, reached a civil settlement to pay $250,000 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims to Medicaid for transportation services that did not occur. The case was settled by Special Assistant Attorney General Edward Bradley of the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Westchester County Black Car Service, LLC, a Medicaid transportation company located in Lagrangeville, New York, and its owner, Yasmeen Khan, 47, were sued in Rockland County Supreme Court. The civil lawsuit alleges that Westchester County Black Car Service, LLC, submitted false claims to Medicaid for transportation services that were never provided, as well as for toll expenses that were either never incurred or deliberately inflated. The lawsuit seeks at least $1,204,608.46 in monetary damages, as well as civil penalties and injunctive relief requiring the defendants to follow federal and state laws and rules governing the Medicaid program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Samantha McCullagh of the New York Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Ohio

Donna Deaver, 63, of Cleveland, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud. As alleged in the indictment, Deaver billed Medicaid for services purportedly rendered while the patient was in Jamaica for six months. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $64,316 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorneys General Thomas Port and Joseph Hawken Flanagan of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Erica Gore, 35, of Columbus, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud and theft. As alleged in the indictment, Gore billed Medicaid for services that she had canceled at the last minute. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $2,033 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorneys General Thomas Port and Joseph Hawken Flanagan of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Natosha Hall, 32, of Cleveland, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud. As alleged in the indictment, Hall illegally sought Medicaid reimbursement for services allegedly performed while she was on a trip in Barbados. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $1,037 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorneys General Thomas Port and Joseph Hawken Flanagan of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Rachelle Monday, 29, of Cleveland, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud and theft. As alleged in the indictment, while employed by WarmLiving Health Care, she falsified time sheets by claiming that she provided services when she was working another job as a parking lot attendant. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $16,041 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Principal Assistant Attorneys General Sarah L. Leatherman and Susan Schultz of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Gerald Patterson, 57, of Akron, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud and theft. As alleged in the indictment, Patterson, while employed by Enterprise Health Services, falsified time sheets and billed for services when he was working a second job or traveling out of state. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $6,184 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Emily Patrick and Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Linn of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Tara D. Patterson, 46, of Akron, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud and theft. As alleged in the indictment, Patterson fraudulently claimed reimbursement for services purportedly conducted in Ohio while she was out of state. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $15,210 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Principal Assistant Attorney General Andrew T. Kielczewski and Associate Assistant Attorney General Sean R. Mackin of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Thong Phaphouvaninh, 64, of Orrville, Ohio and Bounmy Thammavongsa, 60, of Perrysburg, Ohio were charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud. As alleged in the indictments, while employed by Pinnacle Home Health, Phaphouvaninh and Thammavongsa billed for services when they were hours away from the service recipients. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $33,416 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The cases are being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorney General Joel Walker of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Patric Laquita Snowden, 49, of Maple Heights, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud. As alleged in the indictment, Snowden allegedly billed for services purportedly rendered in Ohio while she was on trips to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, the Dominican Republic, France, and Jamaica. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $2,318 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The cases are being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorney General Joel Walker of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
John Thomas, 53, of Cincinnati, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud and theft. As alleged in the indictment, while employed by Future Home Health Care, Thomas submitted time sheets falsely claiming that he provided in-home services while the recipient was hospitalized for three months. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $13,756 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Principal Assistant Attorney General Sarah L. Leatherman of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Janay Veal, 37, of Youngstown, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud and theft. As alleged in the indictment, Veal billed for services after removing herself from a recipient’s plan of care and on days in which a relative of the recipient provided the services. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $4,923 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Principal Assistant Attorney General Andrew T. Kielczewski and Associate Assistant Attorney General Sean R. Mackin of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Donna Wells, 35, of Cincinnati, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud and theft. As alleged in the indictment, Wells billed for services that she did not render, including for services purportedly provided to patients in Ohio while she was traveling in Georgia and Nevada. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $3,183 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorneys General Thomas Port and Joseph Hawken Flanagan of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Miranda Williams, 30, of Mentor, Ohio was charged by indictment with Medicaid fraud. As alleged in the indictment, Williams, a behavioral-health specialist for Guiding Point, billed for numerous services when she was not present at her assigned school and for overlapping services with a separate counseling job. The Ohio Department of Medicaid paid $26,915 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorneys General Thomas Port and Joseph Hawken Flanagan of the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Pennsylvania

Khalil Rivera, 29, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was charged by complaint with Medicaid fraud, theft by deception, and tampering with public records. As alleged in the complaint, Rivera, a blended case manager, caused the submission of claims to Medicaid for services not rendered, and Medicaid paid Rivera $72,081.32 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher R. Sherwood of the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.
Michael Miller, 37, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was charged by complaint with Medicaid fraud, theft by deception, sexual extortion, and tampering with public records. As alleged in the complaint, Miller, a former unlicensed therapist, engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with his patient for the duration of her treatment and caused the submission of claims to Medicaid for services that were below the accepted medical treatment standards or not provided at all. Medicaid paid Miller $7,086.60 based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher R. Sherwood of the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.

South Carolina

Latisha Alexandria Massey, 37, of Greer, South Carolina, was charged by indictment with knowingly conducting financial transactions with proceeds of unlawful activity (money laundering), breach of trust, financial transaction card fraud, computer crime act violation, federally chartered financial institution crime, and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, in connection with exploiting a resident of a healthcare facility in which she worked. As alleged in the indictments, Massey, a certified nursing assistant, exploited a healthcare facility resident, for whom she was caring, by diverting the resident’s funds from the resident’s bank account into her own possession. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Vanessa Horsley of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

Wisconsin

Neeraj Agrawal, 56, of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, was charged by complaint with theft by fraud and medical assistance fraud in connection with a scheme to upcode his claims for reimbursement and to claim reimbursement for psychotherapy sessions that never took place. From December 2020 through November 2023, Wisconsin Medicaid paid Agrawal $1,297,363.04 for his largely fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Timothy J. Filipa of the Medicaid Fraud Control & Elder Abuse Unit at the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Updated July 2, 2025

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Case Summaries

2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown

Cases Filed in Federal Court

District of Arizona

Central District of California

Northern District of California

Southern District of California

District of Connecticut

District of Columbia

District of Delaware

Middle District of Florida

Northern District of Florida

Southern District of Florida

Middle District of Georgia

Northern District of Illinois

District of Idaho

Eastern District of Kentucky

Western District of Kentucky

Eastern District of Louisiana

Middle District of Louisiana

District of Maine

District of Massachusetts

Eastern District of Michigan

Western District of Michigan

Northern District of Mississippi

Southern District of Mississippi

District of Montana

District of Nevada

District of New Hampshire

District of New Jersey

Eastern District of New York

Northern District of New York

Northern District of New York / Eastern District of Virginia

Southern District of New York

Western District of New York

Eastern District of North Carolina

Western District of North Carolina

District of North Dakota

Northern District of Ohio

Southern District of Ohio

Northern District of Oklahoma

Western District of Oklahoma

District of Oregon

Eastern District of Pennsylvania

District of South Carolina

Middle District of Tennessee

Western District of Tennessee

Northern District of Texas

Southern District of Texas

Western District of Texas

District of Vermont

Eastern District of Virginia

Western District of Washington

Northern District of West Virginia

Cases Filed in State Court

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Illinois

Indiana

Louisiana

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Michigan

Missouri

New York

Ohio

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Wisconsin

2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown