Feds reveal California health care fraud arrests, blame state leadership

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Federal officials on Thursday announced several Southern California arrests linked to millions of dollars in health care fraud, placing much blame on the state’s failure to perform oversight.

Officials said those arrested, who include nurses, a chiropractor and a psychologist, face accusations including that they planned to defraud Medicare of over $50 million through sham hospice facilities. In one case, people received money in exchange for their information being placed on Medicare reimbursement forms. Fraudulent claims over years netted some $8.5 million.

Dubbed “Never Say Die,” the operation revealed certain hospices had survival rates above 80%.

“When you go to hospice, you usually go there to die,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.

In another case, officials said a doctor and nurse used their daughter’s name to operate a hospice, as prior criminal convictions prohibited them from overseeing it. They added false information to patients’ medical files, making it appear that they faced terminal illnesses.

They received over $4 million, Essayli said.

“This is not just a fraud problem, it’s a California problem,” said Essayli, a former Republican member of the state Assembly. He added: “California is responsible for issuing hospice licenses. I call California the kingdom of fraud and [Governor] Gavin Newsom reigns over this kingdom."

Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also slammed California’s leadership. He said Thursday’s arrests show President Donald Trump’s administration is focused on stopping fraud.

“You should be incredulous,” Oz said. “We are. We are going to review every single hospice in California."

Newsom in an X post said the Trump administration, “home to the biggest fraudsters on Earth,” wants to blame his state for problems with federal programs.

“Glad to see the Feds finally taking seriously the fraud in the programs they themselves manage…only 15 months after Trump took office,” Newsom wrote.

Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, called Southern California a high-risk region for not only hospice-related fraud, but other health care fraud as well.

“The United States loses hundreds of billions of dollars annually to health care fraud at the expense of all American taxpayers, whose benefits decrease as premiums, co-payments and taxes grow,” Davis said in a statement. “Our aim is to reverse that trend with ‘Operation Never Say Die’ and others like it.”

Thursday’s announcement also included accusations of private health care plan fraud and immigration health care fraud.

In one example, four people face accusations they sought to defraud a labor union’s health plan with false chiropractic and physical therapy services that weren’t needed or provided. They submitted at least $19 million in false claims to private health insurers, officials said.

The lone immigration health care fraud case involves a South Korean national accused of falsely claiming to be a nurse or doctor and meeting medical exam requirements needed to register permanent residence or adjust their immigration status.

“Working side-by-side with the FBI, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, and our law enforcement partners, we are aggressively dismantling fraud schemes and taking down those who exploit American workers,” said Anthony P. D’Esposito, U.S. Department of Labor inspector general, in a statement.

Those facing Medicare hospice fraud accusations include Lolita Beronilla Minerd, 65, also called Lolita Beronilla Rice, of Anaheim; Gladwin Gill, 66, and his wife, Amelou Gill, 70, both of Covina; Nita Almuete Paddit Palma, 76, currently held at a federal prison in Seattle, and her husband, Adolfo Catbagan, 68, of Glendale; Evelyn Tindimobuna, 51, of Chatsworth; and Ivan Verne Lauritzen, 50, of Simi Valley.

A handful of people face private health care plan fraud accusations. They include Tolu Aulava-Moala, 51, of Carson; John Nicola, 77, of El Segundo; Crysta Richter, 40, of Torrance; John Keohuloa, 49, of Lakewood.

Young Joo Ko, 59, of East Hollywood, faces immigration health care fraud accusations.