DOJ Charges 24+ Nurses in $14.6B National Healthcare Fraud Takedown

Image source: DOJ

On Monday, the Department of Justice announced a record-setting healthcare fraud takedown, charging 324 defendants in schemes totaling over $14.6 billion in alleged losses, with 96 licensed medical professionals—including at least 24 nurses—facing criminal charges. The operation, which began in 2023, spans all 50 federal districts, and exposes the deep involvement of nurses in both domestic and transnational fraud schemes, including the largest scheme named Operation Gold Rush.

What Was the Healthcare Fraud Takedown?

• Accusations: large-scale, coordinated schemes to defraud federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid through fraudulent billing and false claims, illegal distribution of controlled substances, and participation in transnational criminal organizations.
• Criminal Charges: 324 defendants across 50 federal districts, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and other licensed medical professionals.
• Intended Loss: $14.6 billion
• Recoupments: $245 million in “cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets,” $4 billion in false and fraudulent claims stopped by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, $34.3 million from civil settlements with 106 defendants.

Source: DOJ

 

What Was Operation Gold Rush?

Part of the takedown included Operation Gold Rush. This case involved 11 individuals who were a part of a vast, Russian-led criminal organization that orchestrated the largest healthcare fraud case by loss amount ever charged by the DOJ. This group:

• Purchased over 30 legitimate U.S. medical supply companies, especially those already enrolled in Medicare, turning them into shells for fraud.
• Stole the identities of more than 1 million Americans—including patients and physicians—to submit $10.6 billion in bogus Medicare claims, mainly for durable medical equipment like urinary catheters and glucose monitors.
• Used foreign straw owners and U.S.-based office managers to disguise the true leadership of the companies, many of whom never set foot in the United States.
• Laundered proceeds through a complex network of bank accounts, cryptocurrency, and shell companies in countries around the world.

Source: DOJ

Operation Gold Rush was transnational:

• The organization was led from Russia, with key players and money flows traced to Eastern Europe.
• Four defendants were arrested in Estonia on June 25, 2025, as part of coordinated international law enforcement efforts.
• Other conspirators included individuals from Estonia, Kazakhstan, and the Czech Republic, and arrests took place at U.S. airports and the Mexican border as suspects attempted to flee.

U.S. authorities are seeking extradition of several suspects to face justice in American courts.

Nurses’ Involvement and Impact

While the DOJ has not published a precise breakdown by profession, official statements confirm that among the 96 licensed medical professionals charged, at least 24 are nurses and nurse practitioners.

Nurses played a notable role in several aspects of broader fraud schemes uncovered in this takedown:

• Falsifying medical records and documentation to support fraudulent claims for services and equipment that were never provided.
• Participating in kickback arrangements and certifying patients for unnecessary home health services, enabling agencies to bill Medicare for millions in unwarranted payments.
• Facilitating or turning a blind eye to identity theft and fraudulent billing, sometimes under pressure from criminally compromised employers.

While the DOJ has not yet released a comprehensive public list of all nurses charged, the following nurses have been identified among larger fraud cases within the official case summaries and indictments:

• Ira Denny (56 - NP in Surprise, AZ) - charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud for billing Medicare for medically unnecessary amniotic allografts procured through kickbacks and bribes. Denny applied these treatments to elderly patients as directed by sales reps, resulting in over $209 million in fraudulent claims.
• Jorge Kinds (49 - NP in Phoenix, AZ) - charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud as part of a $1 billion scheme. Kinds applied unnecessary amniotic wound allografts to elderly Medicare patients, often terminally ill, without independent assessment, following orders from unlicensed sales reps.
• Gina Palacios (40 - NP in Phoenix, AZ) - charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud for billing Medicare approximately $59 million for unnecessary amniotic allografts, applied to patients as instructed by sales reps, without exercising medical judgment.
• Patricia Anderson (57 - NP in West Hills, CA) - charged with two counts of health care fraud for prescribing high-reimbursement, non-contracted generic drugs without evaluating patients or reviewing records. Anderson received at least $275,000 in kickbacks as part of a $269 million Medi-Cal fraud scheme.

At least 20 other RNs, NPs, LPNs and CNAs are listed in DOJ case summaries including:

• Connecticut:
  • Michele Rene Luzzi Muzyka (60 - RN in Cheshire, CT)
• Florida:
  • Sandra Jackson (72 - NP in Orlando, FL)
  • Anja Salamack (PMHNP in FL)
• Illinois:
  • Cher Farley (52 - RN in Earlville, IL)
• Indiana:
  • Billy Ray Guthrie (48 - RN in Knightstown, IN)
  • Catherine Elizabeth Grimes (66 - RN in Greencastle, IN)
  • Christy A. Orwig (58 - RN in Madison, IN)
  • Kayla Bell (35 - LPN in Newburgh, IN)
  • Patrice Rene Amos (44, RN in Avon, IN)
  • Nathaniel G. Stimpson (34 - RN in Decatur, IN)
  • Sheri L. Hapner (53 - LPN in Middlebury, IN)
• Kentucky:
  • Matthew Ryan Elkins (40 - CRNA in Crestwood, KY)
• Nevada:
  • Mary Huntly (67 - NP in Las Vegas, NV)
  • Paulino Gonzalez (40 - RN in Las Vegas, NV)
• New York:
  • Crystal Miller (42 - LPN in Brookfield, NY)
  • Rachel Paillet (57 - CNA in Rochester, NY)
• Texas: 
  • Tomi-Ko Bowers (70 - NP)
  • Tyneza P. Mitchell (43 - NP in Spring, TX)
• Virginia:
  • Christina Schasse (40 - CRNA in Glen Allen, VA)
• Wisconsin:
  • Dezarae Polinske (30 - RN in Elkhart, WI)

Finally, at least two non-nurses were included for fraud related to nursing:

• Patrick Buchanan (39 - Broward County, FL) - “owner of Sigma Institute of Health Careers” and sold “fraudulent nursing diplomas and transcripts to individuals seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses.”
• Carmenecia M. Dixon (36 - Swansea, IL) - “delivered a false nurse license knowing it was false and practiced as a LPN without a nursing license”

The full list of medical professionals involved is pending release in the DOJ’s court documents.

Source: DOJ

Key Takeaways for Nurses

• Nurses are at risk: The takedown demonstrates that nurses can be targeted or recruited by sophisticated criminal organizations, including transnational groups from Russia and Estonia.
• National and international scope: Nurses charged were based in both urban and rural areas across the U.S., with some directly collaborating with foreign actors.
• Consequences: Those charged face criminal prosecution, loss of licensure, and permanent damage to their professional reputations.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said of the takedown: “This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers.”

Nurses must remain vigilant, report suspicious activities, and uphold the highest ethical standards to protect themselves, their patients, and the integrity of the profession.

 

🤔 Nurses, what do you think about this takedown? Share your thoughts in the discussion forum below.