Federal Fraud Crackdown Puts Medicare Under Scrutiny

More than 80 social adult day care providers received warning letters from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over questionable billing as federal agencies investigated suspected Medicaid fraud in New York City. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, agents and officials delivered letters and searched centers across the city, placing publicly funded care programs under scrutiny from a growing law-enforcement apparatus.

The agencies move in

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the FBI, NYPD and other agencies took part in the searches. The investigation focused on alleged irregularities, including low attendance despite high Medicaid billing, questionable wheelchair-transportation charges, seniors entering without signing in, inconsistent attendance claims and sign-in sheets containing future-dated entries.

An FBI spokesperson said, “FBI New York, along with multiple other law enforcement agencies are conducting law enforcement activity in the area of Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn and other locations around New York City in connection with ongoing federal investigations.” The statement offered no further details about the investigations.

Oz is the central figure in “War on Fraud,” a 27-minute documentary about Trump administration investigations into alleged fraud involving Medicare, Medicaid, hospice care and other programs. Fox News Digital said it first obtained the film, scheduled for release Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on Oz’s X account. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Deputy Administrator Kim Brandt also appear in the documentary.

The film presents the administration’s crackdown through alleged cases across the country. In the Los Angeles area, Oz cited roughly 2,000 hospice providers, a concentration he said raised concerns about fraudulent billing. He alleged Russian organized-crime groups took part in some suspected hospice-fraud operations and that operators sometimes enrolled patients under false pretenses, including by falsely declaring them terminally ill. Such enrollment, he said, could limit patients’ access to treatment while allowing operators to bill Medicare for services under false pretenses.

Public money, private schemes

Federal prosecutors allege medical-equipment companies in Delray Beach, Florida, took part in a $3.7 billion Medicare-fraud scheme. Prosecutors say the companies billed for equipment patients hadn’t requested or needed. The alleged ringleader fled the country. Authorities captured him in Turkey and returned him to South Florida to face federal charges.

In Flushing, Queens, Oz called a cluster of businesses—including a social adult day care center, pharmacy and medical center—a “clubhouse for crooks.” He alleged the businesses took seniors’ identification numbers and used them to submit fraudulent bills. Oz said they recruit seniors, “get them in, game the system and they use their ID numbers to charge everybody, ‘which means they are charging you.’” These claims remain allegations; the documentary’s account isn’t a court finding.

Minnesota has also drawn attention in the administration’s broader government-benefits fraud crackdown. Oz said the state’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scandal intensified attention on large-scale fraud. The case came to national attention in 2022 and has since led to a wave of federal convictions. Vice President JD Vance leads the White House Task Force on Fraud, which has joined Oz in publicizing alleged schemes as the administration expands its investigations.

Enforcement reaches beyond health care

In Massachusetts, prosecutors accused U.S. citizen Jennifer Gonzalez of arranging sham marriages for immigrants seeking legal status. Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney for the Massachusetts District, said Gonzalez allegedly collected up to $40,000 per marriage and arranged as many as 20 marriages a year over the last decade. Her female employees, who also faced charges, allegedly married clients seeking legal status.

Foley said, “This conspiracy netted her $6 million during the course of the alleged scam.” Prosecutors called Gonzalez the operation’s “ringleader.” The Justice Department said Gonzalez, Pugh, Tavares and two other alleged conspirators were arrested Wednesday morning; Hill was already in state prison for a gun offense.

Foley also said Gonzalez applied for and received more than $124,000 in SNAP benefits from 2019 through 2026. She allegedly failed to report income from the sham-marriage business or list other household members. The Justice Department described its case as an allegation.

Oz delivered his verdict on the health-program cases in the documentary: “All these programs come back to one basic issue: Fraudsters and criminals don't give a s--- about you. They want your money, and they will walk all over your health, sacrifice your life and betray society's trust to get your hard-earned money,” he says. That’s the administration’s pitch for more investigations and enforcement power. The people whose care and benefits sit inside these cases get no speaking role in the film’s account.