The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced three separate criminal and civil actions on April 7 seeking to hold two individuals and two companies accountable for schemes to steal more than $500 million from taxpayer-funded programs.
The defendants are two companies implicated in an Affordable Care Act (ACA) fraud scheme, a California man pleading guilty to medication reimbursement fraud, and a Nevada woman sentenced to prison for COVID-19 tax credit fraud, the department said in an April 7 statement.
The DOJ said its efforts support President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President JD Vance, which aims to clean up federal benefit programs.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
“In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice.”
Obamacare Scheme
One case involves insurance brokerage company AP of South Florida LLC (APSF), which is accused of fraudulently enrolling thousands of vulnerable people into fully federally subsidized ACA plans, also known as Obamacare. The scheme resulted in the federal government paying $141.5 million in unwarranted subsidies.
APSF targeted vulnerable, low-income people who were unemployed, homeless, or experiencing mental health and substance abuse disorders. Most of them did not meet the minimum eligibility requirements for ACA subsidies.
Hellbound and Down 