The federal record, state by state

June 30, 2025Charges filed

Nine charged in schemes against the North Carolina and South Carolina Medicaid programs

U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson (Western District of North Carolina) announced criminal charges against nine individuals in separate health care fraud schemes that allegedly defrauded the NC and SC Medicaid programs of millions of dollars, alongside civil enforcement producing nearly $5 million in settlements and judgments. FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. stood at the announcement with the North Carolina and South Carolina Attorneys General, IRS Criminal Investigation, and HHS-OIG. Part of the 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

Source: USAO Western District of North Carolina press release, June 30, 2025 (release hosted on scdhhs.gov; mirrored by IRS.gov, June 30, 2025).

June 30, 2025Charges filed

Five individuals and one company charged in the Eastern District

Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar announced charges arising from Medicaid kickbacks paid to patients in exchange for attending substance abuse services, and from false Medicare durable medical equipment billings. FBI Charlotte’s Acting Special Agent in Charge is quoted in the release on health care fraud enforcement. Part of the 2025 Takedown.

Source: USAO Eastern District of North Carolina press release, June 30, 2025 (justice.gov).

May 13, 2025Resolved civil judgment

$4.7 million Medicaid fraud consent judgment

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson reached a $4,711,159 consent judgment against Steven Osbey of Kernersville over Reign & Inspirations, LLC, a behavioral health company alleged to have billed NC Medicaid for physician home visits that never occurred (2017 to 2020). The investigation was joint: the NC Medicaid Investigations Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, the FBI, and IRS-CI.

Source: HHS-OIG enforcement summary of the North Carolina Attorney General’s release, May 13, 2025.

January to March 2026Sentenced

Life Touch LLC defendants sentenced for a $12.7 million NC Medicaid scheme

A federal judge in the Eastern District sentenced the operators of Life Touch, LLC (Kinston and Goldsboro) and 1st Choice Healthcare Services for a scheme that paid more than $1 million in gift card kickbacks to Medicaid patients with substance use disorders and billed NC Medicaid $12.7 million. Combined prison terms exceed 14 years (individual terms include six years, six years, two years, and 30 months on related tax counts); the company was fined $15 million, restitution to NC Medicaid was set at $15,286,912.91 for the lead defendants, and more than $6 million in proceeds was seized. The principals pleaded guilty in August 2025.

Sources: IRS Criminal Investigation releases, January 14, 2026 and March 5, 2026 (irs.gov); U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina as quoted in both.

February 2026Seizure

$61 million in cryptocurrency seized with the Eastern District of North Carolina

The Justice Department’s Criminal Division told Congress that in February 2026, “federal law enforcement working with the Eastern District of North Carolina seized $61 million of cryptocurrency tied to cryptocurrency investment fraud.”

Source: Statement for the Record of Richard Goldberg, Associate Counsel, Criminal Division, before the Joint Economic Committee, March 25, 2026 (jec.senate.gov).

June 23 and 24, 2026Charges filed

North Carolina cases in the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown

Middle District: Deborah Lanell White, 54, of McLeansville, charged by criminal complaint as owner of Reginald Center of Turn Around, alleged to have billed North Carolina Medicaid for thousands of fictitious drug tests causing a $2.8 million loss. Investigated by HHS-OIG, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the NC Medicaid Investigations Division.

Eastern District: James Thomas Foley, 45, an Irish citizen residing in Youngsville, indicted in a multimillion dollar health care fraud conspiracy involving unnecessary durable medical equipment billed to Medicare and other insurers.

Eastern District: A further indictment (June 24, 2026) in a multimillion dollar kickback and false documents conspiracy paying and receiving kickbacks for laboratory testing referrals billed to Medicare, HRSA, and TRICARE. The defendant’s name was not confirmed from a primary release in the research behind this page, and it is not printed here until it is.

Sources: USAO Middle District of North Carolina press release, June 2026 (justice.gov); USAO Eastern District of North Carolina press release, June 23, 2026, as indexed by HHS-OIG’s 2026 Takedown release index; HHS-OIG, 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown release index; Kaufman & Canoles analysis, 2026.

October 2026Guilty plea

Charlotte man pleads guilty to North Carolina Medicaid fraud

Ronnie Lorenzo Robinson, Jr., 56, of Charlotte, pleaded guilty to health care fraud through The Fisher of Men Project, LLC, submitting roughly $735,000 in false NC Medicaid claims for psychotherapy services never provided, of which about $440,000 was paid. The FBI and the North Carolina Medicaid Investigations Division investigated. Sentencing is pending; the maximum is 10 years.

Source: USAO Western District of North Carolina press release, October 2026 (justice.gov).

July 30, 2026Guilty pleas

Three North Carolina cases in the Fraud Division’s Southeast enforcement actions

United States v. Dumitru (Western District): two Romanian brothers pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a SNAP benefits scheme causing nearly $766,000 in loss across multiple states.

United States v. Adedayo Afolabi Fateru (Middle District): guilty plea as a member of a money laundering ring handling proceeds of fraudulent EIDL and unemployment benefit applications, causing nearly $1.7 million in loss.

United States v. Mitchell et al. (Eastern District): a Robeson County tax preparation business owner and seven co-conspirators pleaded guilty to conspiring to prepare false returns claiming fraudulent COVID-19 tax credits, causing nearly $25 million in loss.

Source: DOJ OPA, “Justice Department’s Fraud Division Announces Unprecedented Fraud Enforcement Actions in Southeast,” July 30, 2026 (justice.gov).

July 30, 2026Announced presence

Federal-state anti-fraud task force stood up in North Carolina

The same release announced the formation of a federal-state anti-fraud task force in North Carolina (with Mississippi and Florida), federal-state cooperation agreements with seven Southeastern states including North Carolina, and a partnership roundtable attended by NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson and State Auditor Dave Boliek, with FBI Assistant Director Heith Janke among the federal law enforcement partners represented.

Source: DOJ OPA, July 30, 2026.

June 30, 2025Charges filed

Hendersonville physician and office manager indicted (Middle District)

Xuhan Zhang, 62, and Jing Qi Mei, 65, of Hendersonville were indicted for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, false statements, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, in an alleged scheme billing Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield roughly $20 million (about $6.5 million paid) for inpatient hospital services never provided, including services billed after the hospital closed and for patients who were in nursing homes or deceased, 2017 to 2025. Note the payers: Medicare and a private insurer, not TennCare. Part of the 2025 Takedown.

Source: USAO Middle District of Tennessee press release, June 30, 2025 (justice.gov).

June 30, 2025Charges filed

West Tennessee pharmacy case, $28.7 million billed to the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund (Western District)

Kossie Lamon Simmons, Katina Marzie Simmons (Collierville), and Tritia Margalizita Townsend (Memphis) were indicted for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud through SarJo Pharmacy, alleged to have billed the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund approximately $28,738,532.90, of which approximately $16,262,445.70 was paid, for medications not based on valid prescriptions and never dispensed. Note the payer: a federal workers’ compensation fund, not Medicaid. Part of the 2025 Takedown.

Source: USAO Western District of Tennessee press release, June 30, 2025 (justice.gov).

June 23, 2026Charges filed

Tennessee cases in the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown

Angela Moss (Middle District): Angela Moss, 55, of Gordonsville, indicted on seven counts of health care fraud and twelve counts of unauthorized distribution of controlled substances, for allegedly prescribing medically unnecessary controlled substances through Gordonsville Clinic for more than eight years. The indictment, filed June 3, 2026, alleges the scheme defrauded health care benefit programs including Medicare and TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program. Investigated by HHS-OIG and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Ramon Aquino (Middle District): Ramon Aquino, 77, of Clarksville, charged by information with one count of health care fraud in a controlled substance prescribing scheme at North Clarksville Medical Center, with an estimated $335,621.73 loss to health care benefit programs.

A third provider, an Arkansas resident, was charged in the Western District of Tennessee in the same takedown for fraud worked in Tennessee, per contemporaneous reporting. DOJ’s takedown releases list both the Middle and Western Districts of Tennessee among the participating districts.

Sources: USAO Middle District of Tennessee press releases, June 23, 2026 (justice.gov), and the indictment in Case 2:26-cr-00002 (M.D. Tenn.); USAO Middle District of Tennessee release as indexed by HHS-OIG; The Tennessean, June 24, 2026; DOJ OPA, 2026 Takedown release, June 23, 2026.

June 24, 2026State charges

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation state charges announced alongside the takedown

TBI’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division announced state charges in three unrelated TennCare cases the week of the federal takedown: a Shelby County nurse impersonation and TennCare fraud indictment (May 7, 2026 grand jury), a financial exploitation arrest (June 1, 2026), and a former Memphis pharmacist’s TennCare fraud indictment (April 2026 grand jury). Included here because the timing and subject tie them to the same enforcement wave, and labeled state so nothing federal is implied.

Source: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation newsroom release, June 24, 2026.

The honest negativeNo item found

What Tennessee does not have in this record

In the research behind this page, no FBI statement of priority specific to Tennessee, no Tennessee federal-state anti-fraud task force, and no large scale scam or cyber fraud enforcement action with a distinct Tennessee footprint (Tennessee defendants, victims, or seizures) surfaced from FBI, DOJ, or USAO sources in 2025 or 2026. Tennessee’s federal story is takedown participation, stated above. Anyone writing that Tennessee has a federal anti-fraud task force or an FBI Tennessee fraud priority would be ahead of the record found here.

April 30, 2026Announced presence

West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force announced, covering the Northern District of California

DOJ announced the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force, uniting the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Health Care Fraud Section with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Northern District of California, Arizona, and Nevada, together with HHS-OIG, the FBI, and DEA. DOJ described an “urgent and undeniable” need for coordinated action and characterized Silicon Valley as “ground zero” for technology driven health care fraud.

Source: DOJ announcement, April 30, 2026, as analyzed in client alerts by Cozen O’Connor (May 2026), Proskauer (June 2, 2026), and Morgan Lewis (2026).

October 22, 2026Charges filed

Los Angeles Health Care Fraud Takedown: 15 defendants, roughly $2 billion in fraudulent claims

The Justice Department charged 15 defendants, including six medical professionals, in Los Angeles area schemes totaling over $1.8 billion (Office of Public Affairs figure; the Central District release rounds to $2 billion) in fraudulent claims: more than $1.6 billion billed in a scheme luring vulnerable people to California for sham substance abuse treatment, described by DOJ as the largest case of its type ever prosecuted by the Department; $134 million billed to Medicare for unnecessary atherectomy procedures that injured patients; more than $138 million billed across three hospice schemes with patients who were not terminally ill; and the indictment of a further defendant in a $270 million scheme to defraud Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, through bogus pharmacy claims. Eight defendants were arrested the day of the announcement. The FBI, IRS-CI, HHS-OIG, and the U.S. Marshals Service are investigating.

Sources: USAO Central District of California press release and DOJ OPA press release, October 2026 (justice.gov); TechTarget/Revcycle Management News, October 26, 2026.

June 23, 2026Charges filed

Central District cases in the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, including the $270 million Medi-Cal scheme

Ten Southern California defendants were charged in the takedown, including five arrested in a scheme that submitted nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal for expensive prescription drugs (more than $178 million paid), exploiting Medi-Cal’s suspension of prior authorizations during a payment system transition; Christina Mareik, 61, of Whittier, was among those charged. In a separate indictment, hospice operator Oren David Shachar, 59, of Van Nuys, Abraham Shin, and Jeannie Choi face a 16 count indictment alleging about $27.7 million billed to Medicare (about $26.9 million paid) through four hospices using, among other things, deceased patients’ identities. The October 2026 Los Angeles takedown (above) then indicted an additional defendant in the same $270 million Medi-Cal matter, per DOJ OPA.

Sources: DOJ 2026 Takedown case summaries as reported by Internewscast (June 2026) and UTV (August 26, 2026); DOJ OPA, October 2026.

June 23, 2026Charges filed

San Diego mother and daughter charged in a $9.5 million Medicare scheme (Southern District)

Blanca Estela Cardenas, a San Diego nurse practitioner, and her daughter Raquel Pasillas were indicted for allegedly billing Medicare roughly $9.5 million (about $5.5 million paid) for mobile wound care services in 2024, during part of which the mother, the licensed provider of record, was serving a federal prison sentence. Part of the 2026 Takedown.

Source: USAO Southern District of California press release, June 23, 2026 (justice.gov).

April 3, 2026Charges filed; arrests made

Eight arrested in a $50 million California hospice fraud scheme

DOJ announced arrests of eight individuals running sham hospice facilities in and around Los Angeles County that billed Medicare for patients who were not eligible, a scheme put at $50 million, investigated by the FBI, IRS-CI, FDA, Department of Labor, and HHS-OIG. Named threads in the announcement include operators who had previously been convicted in hospice kickback schemes.

Source: DOJ statement as reported by Hospice News, April 3, 2026.

March 20, 2026Charges filed · Reported

$90 million Medicare Advantage equipment scheme charged in the Northern District

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced charges against Anar Rustamov, 38, an Azerbaijani national formerly of Sunnyvale, whose entity Dublin Helping Hand allegedly submitted thousands of fraudulent durable medical equipment claims to Medicare Advantage organizations between October 2024 and June 2025, seeking more than $90 million for glucose monitors and orthotic braces not provided and not authorized. HHS-OIG published a parallel enforcement page; the FBI is among the investigating agencies per the reporting. Rustamov was at large at announcement. Reports of the exact count structure differ across summaries; the $90 million figure and the USAO announcement are consistent across reports.

Source: USAO Northern District of California announcement, March 20, 2026, as summarized in secondary reporting (Popular Rationalism, March 2026). This item rests on secondary summaries of the USAO release and is flagged as such.

May 13, 2026Administrative action

CMS suspends payments to roughly 800 Los Angeles hospices and home health agencies; nationwide enrollment moratoria

CMS announced it had suspended Medicare payments to more than 800 hospices and home health agencies suspected of fraud in Los Angeles County alone, providers responsible for $1.4 billion in Medicare spending the prior year, with $70 million in funds suspended at announcement, and imposed six month nationwide enrollment moratoria on new hospices and home health agencies effective May 13, 2026. The moratoria are set to expire November 13, 2026, and as of mid October 2026 CMS had not announced an extension. Reported alongside: the Vice President’s Anti-Fraud Task Force deferred $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California the same week; that figure rests on secondary reporting and has not been verified against an HHS or CMS statement, so it is carried here as reported, not as established.

Sources: CMS, “Medicare Enrollment Moratoria Fast Facts” (cms.gov), and CMS press release, May 13, 2026; trade press status check, American Health Intel, October 16, 2026.

June 2026Civil settlement

San Francisco telemedicine company settles for $3.3 million

Circle Medical Technologies, based in San Francisco, agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that its telemedicine platform submitted claims under the names of physicians who did not provide or supervise the services.

Source: DOJ Civil Division action as summarized in the Mondaq False Claims Act Roundup for Q2 2026.

January 2026Announced presence

Federal prosecutors and CMS announce a Los Angeles home health and hospice crackdown

In January 2026, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and federal prosecutors in Los Angeles announced a crackdown on home health and hospice fraud in Los Angeles County, the county federal officials describe as ground zero for hospice fraud nationally, with roughly 1,800 hospices. Administrator Oz has publicly put Los Angeles hospice and home care fraud at about $3.5 billion; that figure is an official’s public estimate, not a charged amount, and it is labeled as such here.

Source: CMS statements as reported in the House Energy and Commerce Committee staff report on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, September 29, 2026, and contemporaneous reporting.

October 23, 2026Charges pending

Alleged laundering network defendant extradited to the Central District in a $36.9 million Cambodia linked crypto scam case

Over the past two years, eight defendants have pleaded guilty in federal court in Los Angeles for laundering more than $36.9 million stolen from victims of an international digital asset investment scam run from scam centers in Cambodia; one was sentenced to 51 months in September 2025. On October 23, 2026, Zheng Zhao, 44, a Chinese national, was arraigned in the Central District of California after extradition from the Netherlands, charged with money laundering conspiracy in the same network, which DOJ says victimized 174 identified Americans. The extradition item rests on secondary reporting of the DOJ announcement and is flagged as such.

Sources: Statement for the Record of Richard Goldberg, Criminal Division, March 25, 2026 (guilty pleas and sentencing); DOJ extradition announcement as reported October 24, 2026 (DailyCryptoBriefs; Undercode News).

April 29, 2026Charges filed; 276 arrested abroad

San Diego charges in the coordinated takedown of at least nine scam centers

Unprecedented cooperation among the FBI, the Dubai Police Department, and China’s Ministry of Public Security dismantled at least nine cryptocurrency investment fraud scam centers and produced at least 276 arrests (275 by Dubai Police, one by Royal Thai Police). Six defendants, alleged managers and recruiters for three scam organizations (“Ko Thet Company,” “Sanduo Group,” “Giant Company”), were charged in the Southern District of California with federal wire fraud and money laundering offenses, unsealed April 29, 2026; the FBI San Diego investigation began in 2025 through a Homeland Security Task Force. The schemes were “pig butchering” investment frauds targeting Americans.

Source: USAO Southern District of California press release, “Coordinated Takedown of Scam Centers Leads to at Least 276 Arrests,” April 29, 2026 (justice.gov).

2025FBI data

California leads the nation in reported crypto scam losses

The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report records California with the highest state total of reported cryptocurrency related losses, $2.099 billion, out of $11.366 billion in crypto related losses nationally on 181,565 complaints. Included because it is the FBI’s own measure of where the victims are; it is a reporting statistic, not a case.

Source: FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report, as summarized by The Block (2026).