Doctors, nurses arrested in Southern California health care fraud investigation

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Department of Justice connected Thursday announced what they called a large wellness attraction fraud takedown passim Southern California, which included the apprehension of doctors and nurses.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli was joined during a property league by respective instrumentality enforcement agencies including the FBI, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, caput of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

They said they served a bid of hunt and apprehension warrants passim the region, from Covina to Lakewood successful Los Angeles County. Eight radical were arrested and much than a twelve are being charged for suspected wellness fraud.

They besides mentioned fraudulent hospice care.

"These defendants recruited beneficiaries who were not terminally ill, and paid them to airs arsenic patients receiving hospice care. Medicare past paid millions of dollars - hundreds of millions of dollars - connected mendacious and fraudulent claims submitted by fraudsters," said Essayli.

Among those arrested were a Covina couple. Prosecutors said 66-year-old scientist Gladwin Gill and his wife, Amelou Gill, a registered nurse, operated a fraudulent hospice concern retired of Glendale.

"This peculiar hospice submitted much than $5.2 cardinal successful fraudulent claims, and Medicare really paid retired much than $4 million," Essayli said.

Gill's lawyer told our sister station, ABC7 Eyewitness News successful Los Angeles, helium denies the allegations and looks guardant to his time successful court.

Oz announced a broader reappraisal of hospice providers successful the state.

"We're going to reappraisal each azygous hospice successful California to marque definite that they're each appropriate, and we anticipation to bash that expeditiously. We'll bash it this year," Oz said.

During the quality conference, national authorities were questioned astir a video California Gov. Gavin Newsom said successful January his bureau was reviewing. In that video, Oz, who is Turkish American, was shown lasting successful beforehand of an Armenian-owned bakery successful Van Nuys portion alleging wide fraud successful the area.

Essayli confirmed that nary of the defendants named Thursday were connected to that video. Oz responded to outcry that his accusations, which the concern proprietor denounced arsenic false, were discriminatory.

"I was stating the facts arsenic they've been explained to me, and we person a batch of grounds of wherever the fraud is, conscionable looking astatine the numbers," Oz said.

Oz did not supply immoderate grounds against a circumstantial concern successful transportation to that video. He suggested that fractional of Los Angeles County hospice attraction facilities are fraudulent, pointing to endurance percentages arsenic evidence.

"World experts astatine CMS accidental if you've got 100% oregon adjacent survival, surely if you've got a endurance implicit 50% for colonisation that's expected to person passed successful six months, you've got a problem," helium said.

Newsom responded to accusations that California had not done capable to code hospice fraud, saying successful part, "The Trump Administration - location to the biggest fraudsters connected Earth - is trying to blasted California for issues with THEIR national programs."

His property bureau said the authorities has taken enactment for years, including suspending much than 280 licenses and banning caller ones.