The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an enforcement action involving 15 defendants in Los Angeles-area health-care cases, with alleged billing exceeding $1.8 billion across private insurers and public programs.
The DOJ’s national press office cited more than $1.8 billion in alleged claims, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California put the total at $2 billion. Both figures concern alleged claims, not confirmed losses or payments. Eight defendants were arrested Oct. 22. The roster includes six medical professionals and cases at different procedural stages.
The largest allegation involves more than $1.6 billion billed to private insurers for substance-abuse treatment, prosecutors say. An indictment says David Young and his son, Nathan Young, controlled dozens of treatment companies and directed recruiters to seek people facing homelessness or poverty. Recruiters allegedly offered travel, housing, money and drugs. Prosecutors allege patients were moved among facilities to continue billing insurers, even when care was unnecessary or never provided.
The DOJ also cited an alleged Medicare scheme involving unnecessary atherectomy procedures, giving different figures in two releases: $134 million in its national summary and $135 million in the district office’s case description. The case involves cardiothoracic surgeon Harold Tabaie and chiropractor Hany Malek. The indictment says some patients experienced severe pain after procedures. The DOJ said data analytics identified Tabaie as an extreme outlier in Medicare atherectomy billing from 2016 through 2023.
Prosecutors allege that three hospice schemes billed Medicare more than $138 million for patients who were not terminally ill. The district office’s case details list about $9.8 million and more than $107 million in one case, more than $10 million in another, and about $21 million in a third. Those figures add up to about $147.8 million or more; the releases do not reconcile the difference. In one case, prosecutors allege beneficiaries did not know they had been enrolled and received little or no care.
A separate Medi-Cal pharmacy case alleges Christina Mareik and others submitted $269.13 million in false claims, with the program paying at least approximately $178.746 million. Mareik was indicted after being charged by complaint in June 2026, the DOJ said. Prosecutors allege the scheme exploited suspended prior-authorization requirements during a transition to a new prescription-drug payment system. The releases do not specify whether this case is included in the $1.8 billion or $2 billion aggregate.
One person on the DOJ’s roster had already pleaded guilty. The department says its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program has charged more than 6,200 defendants since 2007 in cases involving more than $45 billion in claims to federal health programs and private insurers.
