LOS ANGELES, California — The Justice Department on October 22 announced charges against 15 defendants, including six medical professionals, in Los Angeles-area health-care fraud schemes that prosecutors say collectively produced about $2 billion in fraudulent claims to government and private health-care programs — yaani, claims worth about 200 crore dollars. The schemes alleged include sham substance-abuse treatment programs, unnecessary artery treatments and bogus hospice services.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Central District of California

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), which took part in the takedown, put the total at over $1.8 billion in fraudulent claims, including over $1.6 billion billed in a scheme to lure vulnerable people to California for sham substance-abuse treatment — which the Justice Department called the largest case of its type it has ever prosecuted — $134 million billed to Medicare for unnecessary atherectomy procedures, and over $138 million billed in three hospice schemes involving patients who were not terminally ill.

Source: HHS Office of Inspector General

In the largest case, Nathan Young, 39, and David Young, 71, both of Los Angeles, and Honey Phipps, 42, and Cody Phipps, 36, both of Greenville, Texas, are charged over an alleged years-long scheme in which, prosecutors say, dozens of purported treatment companies used 'body brokers' to recruit vulnerable people — including people who were homeless or attending support groups — and billed private insurers over $1.6 billion for sham treatment. The indictment alleges patients were lured with free flights, housing and other inducements, and that some were drugged or blocked from leaving so billing could continue. These are allegations in an indictment, not findings of guilt.

A separate indictment charges Dr. Harold Tabaie, 78, of Anaheim, and Hany Malek, 61, of Tarzana, over an alleged $135 million scheme to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary atherectomies — invasive procedures to clear plaque from arteries — that prosecutors say injured some patients. Other cases in the takedown allege hospice fraud through companies including Transitions Hospice, genetic-testing kickbacks, and a nearly $270 million scheme to defraud Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, through bogus pharmacy prescriptions.

Eight defendants were arrested on October 22, the Justice Department said, with initial court appearances expected in Los Angeles, in the Northern District of Texas and in the Northern District of Illinois. Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald said the charges include 'the largest sober home fraud scheme the Department has ever prosecuted.' The Justice Department states that indictments, complaints and informations merely contain allegations, and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.