Amid a nationwide crackdown on fraud led by Vice President JD Vance, five people have been arrested over alleged hospice fraud in Southern California.

Last night, sweeping raids targeted ten locations suspected of facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent activity.

This scheme alone has stolen an estimated $267 million from American taxpayers — and it is just the tip of the iceberg.

In total, the California Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against 21 individuals related to a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar operation. Five have been taken into custody so far, with officials indicating more arrests are imminent.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta confirmed that the fraud involved defrauding California’s Medicaid program through bogus claims for services rendered to non-existent patients. Americans contribute to Medicare via taxes and premiums, meaning such fraud represents a direct theft from taxpayers.

Bonta stated: “What will address fraud is us doing the hard work — heads down, sleeves rolled up, doing the investigation, doing the arrests, doing the prosecutions, holding folks accountable.”

The defendants collected funds without providing any legitimate hospice services. The law enforcement effort, called Operation Skip Trace, targeted ten locations in Southern California.

Bonta noted that the probe began with a tip from the state Department of Health Care Services regarding fraud at 14 companies. His office investigated these entities and eight individuals suspected of money laundering.

Investigators discovered that those involved purchased personal identifying information for out-of-state residents on the dark web, then enrolled them in Covered California by posing as California residents.

“Straw owners” subsequently acquired hospice companies to bill Medi-Cal for services never provided to stolen identities. The suspects used fake medical records, nonexistent offices, and fraudulent diagnoses to justify these claims.

Bonta explained: “Meanwhile, the so-called patients were healthy, out-of-state, and completely unaware that they had been enrolled in hospice care.”

During a press conference, Bonta emphasized that the operation was conducted entirely by state authorities — not federal agencies.