LOS ANGELES, CA – Federal authorities charged 15 people, including six medical professionals, in health care fraud schemes in the Los Angeles area that allegedly produced more than $1.8 billion in fraudulent claims, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
The charges were announced Oct. 22, according to a Justice Department news release, which said the claims were submitted to government and private health care programs. Eight defendants were arrested that day, six of whom were expected to make initial appearances in the afternoon at the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles and two at a U.S. District Court in Texas.
The investigating agencies include the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Marshals Service. An arrest is not a conviction, and the allegations remain subject to the criminal court process.
Eight arrested, seven others charged
FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI and its partners carried out eight arrests, with seven additional defendants charged, after the subjects allegedly orchestrated a multiyear scheme that resulted in $1.8 billion in losses.
According to initial reports, federal agents carried out raids around 6 a.m. Thursday, including in Tarzana, where a chiropractor charged in the case was arrested. The Justice Department said the seven defendants who were not among the eight arrested remain charged.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, a participating agency, posted the same takedown announcement in its own news release on Oct. 22. That version cites losses of $2 billion in its title.
Largest sober home fraud scheme alleged
The Justice Department said the charges include the largest sober home fraud scheme it has ever prosecuted. Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division used that description for the case.
Nathan Young, David Young, Honey Phipps and Cody Phipps are charged in the scheme, which involved more than $1.6 billion billed for sham substance abuse treatment, according to the release.
According to initial reports, prosecutors allege the Youngs controlled dozens of treatment companies and used paid patient recruiters, known as body brokers, to fill them. The indictment allegedly describes patients being moved from facility to facility to keep insurers billed. Nathan Young was released on a $4 million bond after a brief court appearance, and his attorney, Reuven Cohen, said his client denies the allegations.
Surgeon and chiropractor charged over arterial procedures
Cardiothoracic surgeon Harold Tabaie and chiropractor Hany Malek are charged by indictment in a roughly $135 million scheme involving unnecessary arterial procedures billed to Medicare, the Justice Department said. The release states that Malek posed as a medical doctor.
The department described the case as a scheme involving unnecessary invasive procedures that was detected through data analytics. Prosecutors allege the pair sought Medicare payments for procedures that patients did not need.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California described the allegations against Tabaie at a Thursday morning news conference in downtown Los Angeles. He said Tabaie performed the surgeries on patients “multiple times” and that the aim was “just to bill Medicare, just to churn money.”
Hospice, kickback and pharmacy cases
Three hospice schemes in the case involve more than $138 million in claims, according to the DEA’s account of the release. The remaining defendants face charges involving illegal kickbacks, Medi-Cal pharmacy billing and the unlawful sale of prescription drug samples.
The Justice Department said six of the 15 defendants are medical professionals. Essayli said it is especially egregious when doctors and other health care professionals, who pledged to do no harm, resort to petty greed and criminality.
Officials describe the stakes
McDonald said that anyone who steals health care dollars from taxpayers or abuses a position to harm patients can expect federal enforcement. Essayli said at the news conference that “California has a fraud problem.”
IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent Darren Lian said health care fraud is not a victimless crime. He said it harms patients, drives up costs and diverts resources from people who need care.
Attorney General holds separate news conference
California Attorney General Rob Bonta held his own news conference in downtown Los Angeles about an hour after Essayli’s. He said his team was one of the state partners doing the work on the ground and criticized what he called a lack of credit for state investigators, including in the Tabaie arrest, describing it as improper politicization and weaponization.
In a separate announcement the same day, Bonta said his office had filed felony charges against 103 In-Home Supportive Services providers for allegedly defrauding Medi-Cal of more than $4.5 million. The cases span 17 counties, from Butte to San Diego, and Bonta said the alleged fraud is a small fraction of the state’s $30 billion IHSS budget.
“This isn’t a political game for us,” Bonta said. “This is about protecting taxpayer dollars, protecting the programs that sick and vulnerable Californians rely on, and protecting our state.”
Case follows a larger national takedown
The Los Angeles announcement follows the department’s wider health care fraud enforcement efforts. The 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, published by the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, charged 324 defendants, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and other licensed medical professionals. Intended losses in that takedown exceeded $14.6 billion.
Defendants face court proceedings
Anyone with information about the cases is asked to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Six of the arrested defendants were expected to appear in federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 22, and two in Texas. Seven defendants had not been arrested as of the announcement, and all 15 remain presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
