From Newsgroup: talk.politics.misc

Investigators say they have uncovered more than $50 million in
fraudulent payments to sham hospice care facilities. Federal officials
pointed the blame at state officials and the administration of former
President Biden. Eight people were arrested and 15 were charged in an
alleged scheme to bilk more than $50 million in healthcare funds by
running sham hospice facilities across Southern California, federal
officials announced Thursday.

The defendants billed Medicare for reimbursement payments for hospice
care for patients over several years, federal officials said, but many
of those patients were not terminally ill. Federal officials who
unsealed the charges Thursday described them as brazen efforts to commit
fraud at several facilities across the region.

“This happens entirely too much, particularly in Los Angeles County,”
said First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli. “We are making fraud a priority.”

Federal officials arrested eight people on various fraud charges in a
crackdown dubbed “Operation Never Say Die.” Though the cases were not connected, officials said they adopted similar ways to defraud the
medical system.

Some of the defendants were also medical care providers, Essayli pointed
out, including three nurses, a chiropractor and a psychologist.

The defendants operated facilities in Covina, Anaheim, Glendale and
Lakewood. Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said Southern California was rife with hospice fraud.

Instead of using the money to provide hospice care for legitimately
dying patients, Davis alleged, the suspects used it for international
travel, to pay mortgages and car loans and to send money overseas.

“Fraud historically does not get the attention it deserves, so I’m glad
to see a national spotlight on this pervasive problem,” Davis said.

Amelou Gill and his wife, Gladwin, who operate St. Francis Palliative
Care in Glendale, were arrested at their Covina home by an FBI SWAT
team.

Although the facility was meant to care for the dying, its patient
mortality rate was about 2.3% during the last five years, according to
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-02/california-hospice-fr aud-investigation-arrests

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