By Isabella Torregiani
12:51pm PDT, Jul 2, 2025
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In what the Department of Justice is calling the largest healthcare fraud case in U.S. history, more than 300 people have been charged in connection to schemes totaling $14.6 billion. The defendants range from American doctors to organized crime members accused of crimes spanning from flooding the streets with millions of opioid pills to performing "unnecessary" wound grafts on elderly hospice patients.
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Officials say the fraudulent schemes led to an estimated $2.9 billion in losses. During the course of the investigation, federal agents seized up to $245 million in assets including cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency and more. "Make no mistake — this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities," said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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One of the major operations involved trafficking more than 15 million prescription opioid pills. According to authorities, pharmacists supplied the drugs to dealers, who then distributed them on the streets. "Healthcare fraud isn't just theft — it's trafficking in trust," DEA Administrator Robert Murphy said. "Today's announcement shows that when doctors become drug dealers and treatment centers become profit-driven fraud rings, (the Drug Enforcement Administration) will act." Many of these cases occurred in Texas, where several defendants allegedly ran "front" pharmacies to funnel the opioids into the black market.
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The case also has international ties. Authorities say a Pakistan-UAE national named Farrukh Jarar Ali, 41, ran a billing company that tried to bill Medicaid treatment centers around $650 million for drug and alcohol rehab services. Those services were either substandard or never provided — and in some cases, treatment centers reportedly paid kickbacks to secure patients, often "recruited from homeless populations and Native American reservations," DOJ officials said. Ali allegedly pocketed at least $24.5 million, using part of the funds to purchase a multimillion-dollar home at a luxury golf club in Dubai. He now faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
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"These criminals didn't just steal someone else's money. They stole from you," said DOJ official Matthew Galeotti on Monday, June 30. "Every fraudulent claim, every fake billing, every kickback scheme represents money taken directly from the pockets of American taxpayers who fund these essential programs through their hard work and sacrifice."
