Federal agents have uncovered a fraudulent scheme in Los Angeles under which homeless people were recruited as fake patients and then government health programs were billed for thousands of millions of dollars. three major health centers have been raided and a hospital CEO arrested by FBI officials.

State and federal authorities allege that in this scheme, certain hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties would bring in thousands of patients from downtown Skid Row, many of whom were mentally ill and drug addicts. These phony patients would then be treated for non-existent or minor conditions like dehydration and yeast infections by being hospitalized for as long as three days. In the process, the hospitals would defraud the government of millions of dollars for unnecessary hospital stays and treatments.

in 2006 the Los Angeles Police Department received reports that hospitals were leaving homeless patients out on the streets. This sparked of wider investigations by both state and federal agencies and the health care fraud was uncovered.

The FBI revealed that raids were carried out at City of Angels Medical Center, Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center as well as Tustin Hospital. The two people arrested by the FBI and later indicted were identified as Rudra Sabaratnam, the CEO of City of Angels Medical Center and Estell Mitts, an operator of a health assessment center at a Skid Row.

-Kalyani Mookherji