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The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced sweeping charges Monday against more than 300 defendants, alleging they misled patients into paying for, and sometimes receiving, medical care that they did not need.
In turn, DOJ Criminal Division chief Matthew Galeotti said, the defendants also attempted to swindle Medicare and other taxpayer-funded and private health insurance programs out of about $14.6 billion.
The announcement marked the “largest coordinated healthcare fraud takedown in the history of the Department of Justice,” Galeotti said during a press conference.
One set of charges included, for example, an indictment against three defendants in Arizona who allegedly conspired to purchase and give elderly Medicare recipients skin grafts known as “amniotic wound allografts.” The defendants allegedly reaped millions of dollars from the practice.
5.4 MILLION PATIENT RECORDS EXPOSED IN HEALTHCARE DATA BREACH
The 2025 National Healthcare Fraud Takedown uncovered $14.6 billion in fraud loss, resulting in 324 individuals being charged with crimes. (Department of Justice)
One of the defendants, a nurse practitioner, applied the grafts to patients even though they were “medically unreasonable and unnecessary,” the indictment said. The nurse allegedly applied them to terminally ill patients in hospice, including some who were days away from dying.
While that specific medical practice is typically non-invasive, Galeotti noted it was part of a $1 billion healthcare fraud scheme that stripped patients of “dignity and peace” in their final days.
“That conduct is exactly as callous and disturbing as it sounds,” Galeotti said. “Patients and their families trusted these providers with their lives. Instead of receiving care, they became victims of elaborate criminal schemes.”
TEXAS DOCTOR SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON IN ONE OF THE ‘MOST SIGNIFICANT’ CASES OF PATIENT HARM
Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, joined by Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz, speaks at a press conference on June 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
One DOJ official said in response to a question from Fox News Digital that skin grafts were an “emerging area” of healthcare fraud, “especially given the significant amount of money that they can bill for sometimes in excess of $1,000 a square centimeter.”
The healthcare fraud cases, all of which were shared publicly online, spanned the country and globe. Defendants included medical supply company owners and medical professionals, including 25 doctors.
A map of the U.S. shows the states where the 2025 National Healthcare Fraud Takedown operation took place. (Department of Justice)
An FBI official announced at the press conference that its probe into another scheme, called “Operation Gold Rush,” resulted in at least 20 members of a transnational criminal organization, including defendants based in Russia, being charged as part of a multibillion-dollar Medicare and money laundering operation that centered on catheters.
TEXAS DOCTOR SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON IN ONE OF THE ‘MOST SIGNIFICANT’ CASES OF PATIENT HARM
Newly sworn in Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks during a ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House on April 18, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
The group behind the scheme allegedly used foreign ownership entities to buy dozens of medical supply companies before using stolen identities and confidential health data to create and file $10.6 billion in claims with Medicare.
Another 74 defendants, including 44 licensed medical professionals, were charged across 58 cases with allegedly illegally distributing 15 million prescription opioid pills and other controlled substances.
Five of the defendants, for example, were allegedly affiliated with a Texas pharmacy and stand accused of unlawfully distributing over 3 million opioid pills, including oxycodone, hydrocodone and carisoprodol, which were later trafficked by drug dealers on the streets, according to the DOJ.
The DOJ Criminal Division’s healthcare fraud unit led the takedown effort. Galeotti said Monday the DOJ also launched a “fusion center” in which it would join forces with other agencies to consolidate healthcare data as part of its investigations into fraud.
The FBI announced that one scheme resulted in at least 20 members of a transnational criminal organization being charged. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
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Galeotti and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, also used the press conference to make a plea for more tips.
“We need your help, the American people,” Oz said. “Why? Over half of the whistleblower tips that we get are for healthcare fraud and over half of the fraud against our government is in healthcare.”
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