{"id":846953,"date":"2026-09-14T01:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T01:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/846953\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T01:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T01:18:22","slug":"from-medi-cal-fraud-to-a-nigerian-chieftain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/846953\/","title":{"rendered":"From Medi-Cal fraud to a Nigerian chieftain"},"content":{"rendered":"

We always suspected that Medi-Cal fraud<\/a> was expensive. We didn\u2019t realize it was ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Last week, the California Post reported on a staggering $269 million scheme run by a \u201cmega fraudster\u201d who ripped off the state\u2019s version of Medicaid, which provides health coverage for the poor.<\/p>\n

He was caught, tried, and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Then Christopher F. Rufo and Madeleine Rowley of the Manhattan Institute ran an \u00e9xpos\u00e9, also published in the California Post, on Nathan Ogbatue, a Nigerian chieftain who had made a fortune by charging Medi-Cal for in-home health care.<\/p>\n

Chief Nathan Obiorah Ogbatue, a Nigerian chief who made millions from Medi-Cal. X\/@christopherrufo<\/p>\n

Then Christopher F. Rufo and Madeleine Rowley of the Manhattan Institute ran an \u00e9xpos\u00e9<\/a>, also published in the California Post, on Nathan Ogbatue, a Nigerian chieftain who had made a fortune by charging Medi-Cal for in-home health care.<\/p>\n

Ogbatue\u2019s company had made very little money in California until it suddenly made tens of millions of dollars after the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

He bought expensive real estate in Southern California and built a palace back home, where he spreads the wealth around among his grateful subjects.<\/p>\n

He has not been accused of wrongdoing, but experts raised red flags. And he accused journalists of racism rather than defending his odd business pattern.<\/p>\n

Medi-Cal is just one piece of the overall fraud picture in California. But it is a big one.<\/p>\n

The program exploded in 2024, after Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democrat-run state Legislature expanded eligibility for Medi-Cal to illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n

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It was a version of \u201cMedicare for All.\u201d But it nearly collapsed.<\/p>\n

Newsom had to stop new enrollments last year, after monthly losses ran into billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

But Democrats are determined to try again.<\/p>\n

With that much spending, there is bound to be waste and theft from the program.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happened during the pandemic, when the state\u2019s unemployment department lost tens of billions of dollars to fraud.<\/p>\n

To this day, California hasn\u2019t paid back the debt it owes to the federal government for unemployment benefits during COVID \u2014 benefits that were often simply stolen, including by foreign syndicates.<\/p>\n

Then there are the hospice fraud schemes \u2014 amounting to about $3.5 billion in LA County alone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, pointed out hospice fraud in California, Newsom accused<\/a> him of racism.<\/p>\n

Chief Nathan Obiorah Ogbatue, a Nigerian chief who made millions from Medi-Cal. Facebook\/Idemili Media Associates<\/p>\n

Then the state pretended it had been tracking down fraudsters all along.<\/p>\n

There is too much tolerance for fraud among California\u2019s political class. They seem to think fraud is acceptable if public money somehow finds its way to helping someone.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the biggest victims are Californians who depend on public services \u2014 the people politicians claim they want to help.<\/p>\n

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