Federal authorities in the United States arrested Israeli citizen Oren David Shahar, 59, of Los Angeles, on suspicion of leading a Medicare fraud scheme worth about $27 million. Prosecutors say he used the identities of dead people to file false claims for hospice services that were never provided.
The arrest took place last week as part of a nationwide crackdown announced by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. Across the country, hundreds were charged and 455 people were arrested this year in 45 states in connection with health care fraud schemes totaling more than $6.5 billion.
According to the indictment, Shahar ran at least four hospice facilities in the Los Angeles area and used them to submit claims for patients who were not terminally ill or had already died. Prosecutors say the money flowed into companies he controlled and was used for luxury purchases, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom. One example cited in the case says $15,000 was withdrawn from one hospice business and used as a down payment on the car, which costs nearly $530,000.
Shahar is accused of paying funeral home workers Abraham Shin, 66, and Ginny Choi, 57, between $1,000 and $3,000 for each identity of a deceased person. He then used that information to bill the government for nonexistent care. The three are charged in a 16-count indictment. Shin was arrested with Shahar on June 18, while Choi was arrested Monday and is expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles. Federal officials said the hospice businesses involved were Gentle Touch Hospice in Valley Glen, Oxford Hospice Care in Montclair, Art of Hospice in Encino, and Holly Trinity Hospice in Glendale. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the programs exist to help the elderly, the sick and vulnerable people, not to enrich fraudsters, while FBI Director Kash Patel and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also pointed to a broader crackdown on hospice fraud in California.
