Federal authorities arrested eight people for defrauding Medicare and other insurance companies with many of them using hospices as a front to bilk millions of dollars, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.
Collectively, the eight people are accused of stealing from $50 million dollars from different locations across Southern California from Anaheim to Simi Valley.
Calling Southern California a “high-risk environment” for health care fraud, the DOJ said it conducted the crackdown with Vice President JD Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
“The United States loses hundreds of billions of dollars annually to healthcare fraud at the expense of all American taxpayers, whose benefits decrease as premiums, co-payments and taxes grow,” aid Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Our aim is to reverse that trend with ‘Operation Never Say Die’ and others like it.”
Anaheim
Lolita Beronilla Minerd, a licensed vocational nurse, was arrested Thursday for allegedly filing fraudulent hospice claims to Medicare through her Artesia-based Topanga Hospice Care.
Minerd billed Medicare for hospice services for people who are not suffering from terminal illnesses, often by recruiting people and providing kickbacks, the DOJ alleged.
Overall, the 65-year-old is accused of fraudulently receiving over $8.5 million from Medicare.
Healthcare fraud-related charges could carry a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
Covina
Gladwin Gill, a psychologist, and his wife, Amelous Gill, are accused of stealing from Medicare through their Glendale business called 626 Hospice.
After claiming they provided hospice services, which were never provided or not medically necessary, the married couple stole more than $4 million from Medicare, according to the DOJ.
Glendale
A woman, who is now in federal prison for hospice fraud, and her husband used their three Glendale-based hospices even through the wife had already been barred from owing health care facilities, the DOJ allged.
The woman, 76-year-old Nita Almuete Paddit Palma, is also accused of running the sham hospices while she was out on bail before her trial for fraud charges.
Palma and her husband, 68-year-old Adolfo Catbagan, allegedly stole from Medicare at least 4.2 million.
Tarzana
Evelyn Tindimobuna, a licensed vocational nurse, was arrested for submitting hundreds of fraudulent Medicare claims through a hospice called Comfort Choice in Tarzana.
Between January 2022 to September 2025, the 51-year-old stole $3.4 million from Medicare, the DOJ alleged.
Simi Valley
Ivan Verne Lauritzen is accused of forging a physician’s signature on Medicare paperwork to steal $526,000 from Medicare through her Simi Valley-based Valley Pacific Hospice.
Carson and Huntington Beach
Four people, including a licensed chiropractor, are accused of scheming together to file fake chiropractic and physical therapy claims to International Longshore and Warehouse Union Pacific Maritime Association, a labor union’s health plan, and other private insurers.
The DOJ said the four accused submitted fraudulent claims under several chiropractic and physical therapy companies: Ohana Wellness Center, Ohana Management, and R3New Wellness in Carson as well as the Huntington Beach-based One Life Acupuncture APC.
Gregory Cartmell, a licensed chiropractor in Idaho, and his co-conspirator Vincent Surace are accused of fraudulently receiving over $6.4 million by submitting fake chiropractic claims to ILWU-PMA health plan.
East Hollywood
Federal investigators said Young Joo Ko, financially benefiting from the U.S. government by posing as a nurse and creating fake immigration documents. Ko is accused of claiming that non-existent immigration applicants needed medical examinations.
If convicted, Ko would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.