Grand jury indicts 2 men, including Bakersfield resident, in alleged $3.5M Medicare fraud

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Two men, including a Bakersfield resident, were indicted in an alleged $3.5 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, said on September 17, a grand jury indicted 36-year-old Nouman Mustafa of Torrance and 40-year-old Mohsin Khan of Bakersfield, on multiple counts of health care fraud and aggravated identity theft for submitting millions of dollars in fraudulent claims for durable medical equipment to Medicare.

According to a press release, on February 11, 2026, Mustafa was arrested on a criminal complaint at the Los Angeles International Airport while trying to board a one-way flight to Pakistan. Khan was arrested at his home in Bakersfield on September 29th.

According to court records, Mustafa and Khan are Pakistani nationals with dual United States citizenship who have worked in the United States as security guards, warehouse managers, and licensed insurance agents. The release said from January 2025 through January 2026, they created a series of shell companies designed to look like legitimate durable medical equipment (DME) companies.

The release said in reality, none of the companies had physical storefronts, warehouses, or any locations where legitimate business could have been conducted. “Mustafa and Khan then used these companies to quickly submit more than $3.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare,” said in the release.

“They typically relied on one company for only a few weeks or months until its claims began getting denied for suspected fraud, at which point they shifted to the next company,” said in the release.

Mustafa and Khan allegedly got the information to file the fraudulent claims from their contacts in Pakistan and elsewhere. This information included details about real Medicare beneficiaries and their doctors. The release said the defendants kept about 30% of the proceeds and sent the remainder back to their contacts.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation with help from the Bakersfield Police Department.

If convicted, Mustafa and Khan face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the health care fraud counts and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison, consecutive to the sentences they receive for any other counts, for each of the aggravated identity theft counts.