Feds Charge Eight in $50 Million Southern California Hospice Fraud Scheme

Federal authorities in Los Angeles have arrested eight defendants — including nurses, a chiropractor and a purported psychologist — in what prosecutors describe as a brazen scheme that used sham hospice operations to steal more than $50 million from Medicare and a labor union health plan. According to the Justice Department and HHS inspector general, hospice companies allegedly recruited people who were not terminally ill, paid them hundreds of dollars a month in cash kickbacks, and then billed Medicare for end‑of‑life care that was unnecessary or never provided. One Anaheim nurse, Lolita Minerd, is accused of signing up patients at a market with promises of free services and $300 monthly payments, submitting over $9.1 million in claims and collecting about $8.5 million. In another case, a Covina couple allegedly took in more than $4 million and spent it on mortgages, international travel and personal expenses, while a repeat offender is accused of running multiple fraudulent hospices despite already facing charges and being barred from the business. Officials say the broader takedown also exposed a separate $19 million chiropractic and therapy billing scam against a labor union’s health plan, reinforcing long‑running warnings that Southern California has become a hotbed for organized health‑care fraud targeting Medicare and private benefit funds.