$2B Healthcare Fraud Bust Reflects Federal Enforcement Priorities Fresno Voters Will Weigh at Midterms — Photo: Hendrik Jonker — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
$2B Healthcare Fraud Bust Reflects Federal Enforcement Priorities Fresno Voters Will Weigh at Midterms
Federal prosecutors charged fifteen people in Southern California with healthcare fraud totaling nearly $2 billion on Thursday, part of what the Trump administration is framing as a nationwide crackdown on public benefits fraud ahead of the midterm elections.
At least eight people were arrested. Six of the fifteen charged are doctors. Prosecutors allege one chiropractor, Hany Malek, 61, posed as a physician to refer patients for medically unnecessary arterial surgeries, billing Medicaid over $130 million. His alleged business partner, Dr. Harold Tabaie, 78, of Anaheim, is accused of performing the procedures and sometimes falsely telling patients the first surgery failed to justify a second one.
A separate network of fake substance abuse treatment centers allegedly billed over $1.5 billion for addiction treatment never provided — the bulk of the $2 billion total.
“If you treat healthcare patients as dollar bills, the Department of Justice is coming for you,” said Colin M. McDonald, assistant attorney general for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, at a Thursday press conference alongside FBI officials and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
The California operation follows similar announcements this week in Ohio and Missouri. Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday that the administration had uncovered over $40 million in fraudulent SNAP benefits nationwide since September, with thirteen indictments in Ohio. Missouri’s Republican Governor Mike Kehoe announced Thursday a state-federal partnership to “aggressively identify, investigate and prosecute fraud” in Medicaid and SNAP.
Trump and Vance announced a $25 million whistleblower program Tuesday to encourage fraud reporting. High-ranking federal officials have promoted the crackdowns publicly in the run-up to competitive midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for Trump’s final two years.
Essayli called California the “king of fraud” during the press conference — a shot at the state government amid ongoing disputes between California and the Trump administration. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom responded on social media, saying the majority of the fraud targeted in Thursday’s raid involved federal or private insurance, not state-funded programs, and that the state assisted federal prosecutors on the one case that did involve state-funded insurance.
Neither Malek nor Tabaie had listed attorneys as of Thursday morning. Both are charged with four counts of healthcare fraud; Malek faces two additional bank fraud counts. Efforts to reach both men by phone were unsuccessful.
The Breakdown
- Fifteen people charged in connection with alleged fraud at substance abuse centers, hospice services, and surgical practices in Southern California.
- The alleged schemes total nearly $2 billion — $1.5 billion from fake treatment centers billing for services never provided, $134 million from one chiropractor-surgeon duo allegedly billing Medicaid for medically unnecessary arterial surgeries.
- At least eight arrested so far; six of the fifteen charged are doctors.
- Part of a stated Trump administration enforcement priority timed around the midterm elections — similar announcements this week in Ohio (thirteen indicted for $40 million in SNAP fraud) and Missouri (new state-federal fraud partnership).
- First Assistant U.S. Attorney Essayli publicly called California the “king of fraud”; Governor Newsom responded that most fraud targeted was federal or private insurance and that the state assisted on the one state-funded case.
What This Means for You
The enforcement wave reflects a policy choice by the Trump administration — the decision to prioritize public benefits fraud prosecutions, allocate $25 million for whistleblower incentives, and announce results publicly before the midterms.
The timing is not incidental. High-ranking federal officials are touring the announcements ahead of competitive races that will decide the balance of power in Congress. The message voters are being asked to absorb is that the administration is actively combating fraud — a pitch that doubles as a campaign argument for keeping the party in power.
What to Watch
The $2 billion figure is the alleged total fraud amount — healthcare costs billed but not legitimately incurred. Prosecutions can take years, and restitution orders often go unfulfilled.
The substantive charges against Malek and Tabaie hinge on whether the surgeries were medically unnecessary — a determination that will depend on patient records, expert testimony, and the defense’s ability to contest the government’s clinical judgment. Neither man has legal representation listed yet, which means the defense narrative has not entered the record.
Governor Newsom’s pushback — that most of the fraud involved federal or private insurance, not state programs — focuses on which level of government bears responsibility for the fraud. Voters should note that both sides are positioning around the same set of arrests.
Whether the enforcement level continues after the election, regardless of results, is one test of whether this is policy or performance.
