Fraud Focus Shifts to California: What to Know

Elected officials said they fought fraud hard. But crooks may have bilked ‘hundreds of billions’ from taxpayers, a prosecutor said.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks to reporters April 2 in Los Angeles after an operation to arrest Medicare fraud suspects. US DOJ

California has emerged as America’s new epicenter of fraud-related prosecutions, publicity, and outcry—with multibillion-dollar fraud estimates dwarfing the massive fraud problems that have plagued Minnesota. That midwestern state’s systemic problems with fraudsters rose to prominence late last year, touching off scrutiny of federally funded aid programs across the nation.

Although fraud investigations have ramped up nationwide at President Donald Trump’s direction, the main spotlight shifted to California recently after Dr. Mehmet Oz—who heads the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services—began raising alarms over the extent of fraud there.