los angeles — California officials said Thursday they have uncovered a multimillion-dollar scheme to use identities stolen from people out of state to collect fees for elder care services paid through a state insurance program.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta said officials have charged 21 people and so far arrested five people involved, as the Trump administration accused California of not doing enough to crack down on fraud.
Federal officials have launched a nationwide effort to target inappropriate spending in federal benefits programs. Eight people were arrested They said last week they were involved in several health care fraud schemes in and around Los Angeles.
“This is not a political game for us,” Bonta said in a press release. “This is about protecting taxpayer dollars, protecting the programs that sick and vulnerable Californians depend on, and protecting our state.”
After the Department of Health Care Services notified state prosecutors of the potential fraud, investigators discovered a scheme in which individuals purchased non-California residents’ personal information from the dark web and enrolled them in Medi-Cal, the state’s equivalent of Medicaid, Bonta’s office said. The program provides free or low-cost health insurance to low-income individuals and families.
These individuals then purchased 14 senior care companies and began billing for senior care services with the stolen identities. Bonta’s office said they paid a total of about $267 million.
The individuals are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, money laundering, and identity theft with aggravated white collar crime and money laundering enhancements.
“For years, California has led the charge in protecting public programs from fraud and abuse,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in the news release. “We hold accountable to the fullest extent of the law anyone who attempts to rip off taxpayers and take advantage of public programs, especially sensitive ones like elder care.
Under Bonta, the state filed 119 criminal cases related to care and obtained 51 convictions, his office said.
The Trump administration has made California the focus of its national anti-fraud effort and focused on nursing home fraud in the Los Angeles area. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March to create the system Anti-Fraud Task Force Led by Vice President J.D. Vance. However, most efforts have focused on Democratic-run states Republican-led Florida He was among the people asked to share more information about how to identify, prevent and address Medicaid fraud.