United States indicts 11 individuals involved in Russia-linked Medicare fraud scheme worth $10 billion | US news

US federal prosecutors accused 11 individuals on Friday of their involvement in a Russia-based scheme aimed at defrauding Medicare. Medicare, the American health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, was targeted for a $10.6bn fraud through fraudulent billing for expensive medical equipment. The “transnational criminal organization” allegedly orchestrated a “multi-billion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme” which involved purchasing medical equipment companies from previous legitimate owners to carry out the fraud. Over a million Medicare recipients had their personal information stolen and used by the defendants to make billions of dollars in claims from Medicare and supplemental insurers. These claims were made through medical equipment providers that the group had purchased, but no equipment was actually sent out for these payments. Medicare reportedly paid approximately $41 million as a result of the fraudulent submissions, while supplemental insurers are estimated to have paid an additional $900m between 2022 and 2024. The scheme was allegedly organized by Imam Nakhmatullaev, who is based in Russia, and involved other defendants from Estonia, the Czech Republic, and the US. The fraud was uncovered after hundreds of thousands of Americans reported receiving explanation of benefit forms that falsely claimed they had received unordered and unwanted equipment. The organization then moved its proceeds through shell companies to bank accounts in countries such as Singapore, Pakistan, and Israel and used cryptocurrency to launder the money.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/28/us-charges-11-people-in-russia-based-scheme-to-bilk-medicare-of-10bn