U.S. Department
of Justice
New England Strike Force
The New England Strike Force is a specialized white-collar enforcement team dedicated to investigating and prosecuting complex fraud schemes impacting the New England health care market. Leveraging sophisticated data analytics and financial-tracing techniques, the Strike Force partners with investigative agencies to target individuals and entities involved in criminal activity that undermines the integrity of the U.S. health care system and harms New England residents. Complementing its fraud-detection efforts, the Strike Force tracks and traces the flow of illicit funds laundered as a result of these schemes for seizure and forfeiture.
Where We Operate
The New England Strike Force operates in collaboration with the United States Attorneys’ Offices for the Districts of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and with agency partners throughout the region. The Strike Force has prosecuted health care fraud, money laundering, and other complex fraud schemes committed by individuals and companies throughout New England, as well as doctors illegally prescribing opioids and other drugs.
Representative Cases
Operation Gold Rush
In 2025, the New England Strike Force supported a nationwide investigation, Operation Gold Rush, which resulted in charges in the Eastern District of New York, the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of California, the Middle District of Florida, and the District of New Jersey against 19 defendants in connection with the largest loss amount ever charged in a health care fraud case brought by the Department at $10.6 billion.
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 purchased dozens of durable medical equipment companies (Scheme 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 Scheme DME Companies. The Organization then created fictitious corporate records that falsely indicated that the nominee owners controlled the Scheme DME Companies when, in fact, they were controlled by the Organization’s foreign-based leadership. After the Organization gained control over the Scheme 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 in all 50 states, including elderly and disabled Americans.
The Organization submitted over $10.6 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims for DME. HHS-OIG 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. The fraudulent scheme nonetheless resulted in payments to Scheme DME Companies from Medicare Supplemental Insurers estimated to be nearly $900 million and Medicare payments to the Scheme DME Companies of approximately $41 million.
As further 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 Scheme DME Companies for which they were attempting to open accounts and thereby disguised the true beneficial ownership and control of the entities and the accounts. Moreover, the use of the Scheme 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 the 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 Scheme 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.
Twelve of these defendants have been arrested, including four defendants who were apprehended in Estonia as a result of international cooperation with Estonian law enforcement and seven defendants who were arrested at U.S. airports and the U.S. border with Mexico, cutting off their intended escape routes as they attempted to avoid capture. The criminal case is being prosecuted by DOJ Fraud Section Assistant Chiefs Kevin Lowell and Shankar Ramamurthy, and 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 has been supported by members of multiple Strike Forces. The civil forfeiture proceeding is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Nelson of the District of Connecticut and Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section Trial Attorneys Emily Cohen and Chelsea Rooney.
United States v. Manthan Rohit Shah (D.VT.)
Charged by indictment with misbranding prescription medication, conspiring to import controlled substances, and conspiring to commit international concealment money laundering. As alleged in the indictment, Shah owned and operated Company-1, a pharma company based in Mumbai, India. Company-1 allegedly 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 and Company-1 used fake prescriptions to provide a veneer of legitimacy for customer orders, despite the customers never obtaining such prescriptions. Shah undertook various acts in furtherance of the drug conspiracy. For example, on or about May 6, 2025, Shah sent a text message to an undercover law enforcement agent regarding Company-1’s fulfillment of illegitimate prescriptions for 50 pens of the drug Ozempic, costing approximately $6,200, to be shipped from a location outside the United States to an address in Vermont. Shah also conspired with others to direct the shipment of pharmaceutical drugs without valid prescriptions to a network of online pharmacies and call centers that fulfilled orders placed by customers in New England and across the United States. Shah then conspired with others to launder the funds from financial accounts in the United States, through shell companies, and to Shah’s company in India. The case is being prosecuted by DOJ Trial Attorneys Patrick Brown, John Howard, and Thomas Campbell.
United States v. Leo Anzivino (D.NH.)
Charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of money laundering in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain over $6 million in Medicare funds. According to the indictment, Anzivino, Jr. acted as the straw owner of a durable medical equipment (“DME”) company, Advanced Medical Supply (Advanced), and conspired with others to cause the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for DME. The indictment further alleges that Anzivino falsified bank account documents, including beneficial ownership information, and conspired to launder fraudulent funds from the DME scheme to conceal and disguise the nature, source, origin, and control of the proceeds of the DME fraud. Anzivino, Jr., made four transfers from one Advanced account at a New Hampshire bank to another Advanced account at a Massachusetts bank, totaling over $3 million dollars, to conceal a co-conspirator’s control over the funds. The government seized approximately $353,768.29 in assets tied to the alleged scheme. This case is being prosecuted by DOJ Trial Attorneys Danielle Sakowski, Thomas Campbell, and Tiffany Wynn, and Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Vicinanzo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire.
United States v. Erik Alonso (D.NH.)
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.
United States v. Evelyn Herrera (D.VT.)
Charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $6.5 million in Medicare funds. According to the charging documents, Herrera, the owner of Merida Medical Supplies Inc., a purported DME company, submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare from individuals residing across New England for wrist, knee, and back braces and other equipment, which were medically unnecessary and ineligible for reimbursement by Medicare. After the funds from these fraudulent services were deposited into a bank account controlled by Herrera, she allegedly conducted financial transactions and attempted to conceal the source, origin, and control of the health care fraud proceeds generated by Merida. For example, Herrera allegedly sent an international wire from her bank account, indicating it was to be used to purchase property in Mexico, and sent other funds to a cryptocurrency wallet that she controlled. During the scheme, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a payment suspension to Herrera for suspected fraud, after which Herrerra allegedly attempted to withdraw large amounts of cash from a bank and siphon funds off to other individuals. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sarah Rocha, Thomas Campbell, and Tiffany Wynn. The complaint was filed in the District of Vermont.
United States v. Donald Jani (D.VT.)
Charged by indictment with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.9 million in Medicare funds. According to the indictment, Jani, the CEO of CSS Pain Relief, Inc., a purported DME company, submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for DME. Jani and his co-conspirators allegedly used the personal identifying information of elderly and disabled New England residents to fraudulently bill Medicare. As part of the conspiracy, Jani unlawfully used the personal identifying information of medical providers in the District of Vermont and elsewhere to create the false appearance that the DME claims were premised on legitimate medical orders. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sarah Rocha, John Howard and Thomas Campbell. The indictment was brought in the District of Vermont.
United States v. Soucy (D.NH.)
Illegally prescribed opioids from his home in Columbia, New Hampshire. Dr. Soucy knew that pharmacies in and around Colebrook, New Hampshire, would not fill his prescriptions for several of his patients. To have the unlawful prescriptions filled, Dr. Soucy specifically instructed a patient to bring his prescriptions to a pharmacy in another location. Dr. Soucy also continued to prescribe opioids to the patient, who the defendant knew had a substance-abuse disorder, without conducting any medical evaluation or testing and after the patient had moved out of New England. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Thomas Campbell and Danielle Sakowski.
United States v. Norris (D. ME.)
Found guilty of distributing the opioids at her practice without a legitimate medical purpose and knowing that some patients were battling an opioid addiction. She prescribed the drugs, according to court documents, even after patients failed drug tests or were known to redistribute the drugs in the community. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Thomas Campbell and Danielle Sakowski.
United States v. Khan (D. VT.)
Pled guilty to conspiring with others to illegally distribute opioids through his business, New England Medicine and Counseling Associates (NEMCA), which operated a network of clinics in New England. Khan admitted that he and others agreed to require cash for purported office visits and falsify medical records to justify his illegal prescribing practices. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Thomas Campbell and Danielle Sakowski.