Criminals almost always believe they can get away with it.
This set was wrong.
Because Attorney General Pam Bondi is going after the alleged perpetrators of one of the most jaw-dropping crimes in American history.
Crime syndicate bilks Medicare for billions while torturing dying patients
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Department of Justice had blown apart the largest healthcare fraud scheme in American history.
The massive takedown targeted more than 300 defendants across all 50 states who bilked taxpayers out of a mind-boggling $14.6 billion in fraudulent claims.¹
But the most disgusting part wasn’t just the money they stole.
These heartless criminals preyed on terminally ill patients in hospice care, applying unnecessary skin grafts to elderly Americans who were literally days away from dying.²
One nurse practitioner in Arizona allegedly applied these painful procedures to patients even though they were "medically unreasonable and unnecessary," according to the DOJ indictment.
The skin grafts cost more than $1,000 per square centimeter, meaning these vultures were making millions off the suffering of America’s most vulnerable citizens.³
Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, made it clear these weren’t victimless crimes.
"These criminals didn’t just steal someone else’s money. They stole from you," Galeotti stated.⁴
Operation Gold Rush exposes massive conspiracy
The crown jewel of this criminal enterprise was a Russian mob-led operation dubbed "Operation Gold Rush" that makes Hollywood heist movies look like child’s play.
This transnational crime syndicate used a network of foreign agents to secretly buy up more than 30 American medical supply companies that were already enrolled with Medicare.⁵
Then they did something truly diabolical.
The alleged criminals stole the identities of over one million Americans and used their personal information to submit $10.6 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims for urinary catheters and medical equipment that patients never ordered, never wanted, and never received.⁶
Gerald Quindry, a 73-year-old retired engineer, discovered the scam when Medicare sent him a statement showing he’d been billed $15,500 for urinary catheters that his doctor never ordered.
"Obviously, somebody deserves to be in jail," Quindry told The Washington Post.⁷
The numbers are staggering. Beginning in late 2022, these criminals submitted fraudulent claims for more than one billion urinary catheters.
"I don’t even know if the United States has the ability to manufacture one billion catheters in such a short time," said Isaac Bledsoe, director of strategic projects at the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general’s office.⁸
Trump administration delivers justice that Biden couldn’t
The scope of this takedown absolutely dwarfs anything the Biden administration managed to accomplish.
While Biden’s DOJ uncovered $2.75 billion in false claims last year with 193 defendants charged, President Trump’s team smashed that record by exposing $14.6 billion in fraud with 324 defendants facing justice.⁹
Attorney General Pam Bondi didn’t mince words about the administration’s zero-tolerance approach to healthcare fraud.
"This administration will not tolerate criminals," Bondi declared in her statement announcing the historic takedown.¹⁰
The coordinated law enforcement action resulted in the seizure of over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets from these fraudsters.¹¹
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called it the "largest healthcare fraud investigation, as measured by financial losses, in DOJ history."¹²
The scheme that targeted America’s heroes
These criminals didn’t just target elderly Medicare recipients.
They also went after our military families by defrauding Tricare, the military’s healthcare program, along with Medicaid, food stamps, workers’ compensation, and even the pandemic relief programs designed to help small businesses survive COVID-19.¹³
Some of the most despicable cases involved targeting Native American and homeless patients for fake "addiction treatment scams."
One Arizona-based billing company allegedly defrauded Medicaid of $650 million by exploiting our most vulnerable populations.¹⁴
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, made it clear this wasn’t the work of small-time crooks.
"It’s not done by small time operators," Oz explained.¹⁵
These were sophisticated criminal organizations with international reach and advanced money laundering capabilities.
Making America healthy again starts with stopping the thieves
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasized that rooting out healthcare fraud is essential to President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
"As part of making healthcare accessible and affordable to all Americans, HHS will aggressively work with our law enforcement partners to eliminate the pervasive health care fraud that bedeviled this agency under the former administration and drove up costs," Kennedy stated.¹⁶
The Trump administration isn’t just playing defense anymore.
They’re launching a new Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center that will use artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to identify emerging fraud schemes before criminals can steal billions more from hardworking taxpayers.¹⁷
This proactive approach represents a complete 180-degree turn from the Biden administration’s failed policies that allowed these criminal enterprises to flourish.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services successfully prevented over $4 billion from being paid out to fraudsters and revoked the billing privileges of 205 corrupt providers in the months leading up to this takedown.¹⁸
While Biden was asleep at the wheel, Trump’s team was building the cases that delivered justice.
Nineteen defendants from the operation have been charged, with twelve already arrested – including four who were nabbed in Estonia and seven who were caught trying to flee at U.S. airports and the Mexican border.¹⁹
The message from the Trump administration is crystal clear: steal from American taxpayers and you’ll face the full force of American justice.
¹ Department of Justice, "National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged," June 30, 2025 ² Fox News, "Multibillion-dollar healthcare fraud scheme included giving people ‘unnecessary’ skin grafts: DOJ," June 30, 2025
³ Ibid. ⁴ NPR, "DOJ announces a record-breaking takedown of health care fraud schemes," June 30, 2025 ⁵ Washington Post, "Inside Operation Gold Rush, largest health care fraud bust in U.S. history," June 30, 2025 ⁶ Department of Justice, "11 Defendants Indicted in Multi-Billion Health Care Fraud Scheme," June 30, 2025 ⁷ Washington Post, "Inside Operation Gold Rush, largest health care fraud bust in U.S. history," June 30, 2025 ⁸ Ibid. ⁹ Washington Examiner, "DOJ charges hundreds in $14.6 billion healthcare fraud takedown," June 30, 2025 ¹⁰ Department of Justice, "National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged," June 30, 2025 ¹¹ Ibid. ¹² UPI, "DOJ charges more than 300 in $14B healthcare ‘fraud takedown’," June 30, 2025 ¹³ Washington Times, "Justice Department announces largest-ever health care fraud takedown," June 30, 2025 ¹⁴ One America News, "DOJ: Over 300 people charged in $16.4B ‘National Health Care Fraud Takedown’," June 30, 2025 ¹⁵ ABC News, "More than 300 charged in $14.6 billion health care fraud schemes takedown," June 30, 2025 ¹⁶ Department of Justice, "National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged," June 30, 2025 ¹⁷ Ibid. ¹⁸ Ibid. ¹⁹ Fortune, "Inside Operation Gold Rush: How a transnational criminal network exploited the U.S. health care system," June 30, 2025
