(The Center Square) — Federal prosecutors announced charges against 14 individuals in Ohio on allegations of fraud totaling as much as $50 million.
Two state employees were included in a 32-count indictment for allegedly billing $30 million for therapeutic behavioral services that were never provided, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Thursday. Prosecutors also unsealed an indictment charging four defendants with defrauding a COVID relief program.
“Sadly, Ohio is facing some of the most signficant fraud schemes in the country,” Blanche said. “Our response has been and will continue to be aggressive, comprehensive, and we will not stop until we fix this problem.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said one-third of the home health care funds billed across Ohio came from the Columbus area. He explained the home health care fraud largely came from individuals who billed for autism services that were never provided.
Oz said the average provider of autism services makes $200,000 per year, but one of the providers in Ohio was making more than $3 million.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a six-month moratorium on new home health care and hospice care in Ohio, Oz said.
“We hope that will help at least slow the bleeding using a surgical metaphor, so we can get a bandage on the wound, maybe put a couple stitches in and take out some of the folks who have been stabbing the patient of Medicaid,” Oz said.
Prosecutors also announced charges against five individuals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. David Toepher, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said the individuals used romance schemes against elderly Americans in Ohio to fund legal proceedings in Ghana, where four of the individuals are citizens.
Toepher said the individuals obtained more than $15 million from over 100 elderly people across the United States between July 2024 and April 2026.
“They then used the stolen money to buy a mansion in Ghana, diamond-encrusted jewelry, a Lamborghini and other high-end luxury vehicles,” Toepher said. “All those assets have been seized and are going through the forfeiture proceedings, so they will not profit from their fraudulent efforts.”
Two citizens from Ghana involved in the scheme have been arrested, one U.S. citizen is currently detained and awaiting trial and two other citizens from Ghana are awaiting extradition to the United States, Toepher said.
Ohio Attorney General David Yost applauded the collaboration between federal and state leaders to prosecute fraud. He said he has worked to prosecute fraud since 2011, when he was first elected as Ohio’s state auditor.
“I have never had the level of interest and support from the federal government under any administration than you’re witnessing here today,” Yost said. “It’s sometimes been a lonely fight against fraud, but it’s no longer a lonely fight.”
Democrats in Ohio’s state Senate have criticized the Republican majority’s approach to fraud enforcement. Ohio Sen. Nickie Antonio, said the Legislature abolished the state’s Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee in 2025.
“If there is fraud in Medicaid it is happening under the Republican majority’s watch. Perhaps it’s time to clean Ohio’s house,” Antonio told the U.S. House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said they plan to launch a fraud task force in the southern district of Ohio and the northern district to engage with greater fraud enforcement in the state.
“That task force is designed similarly to how we operate in the violent crime space,” said Dominick Gerace, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “We’re going to identify and target fraud offenders, we’re going to be intentional about that, and we’re going to make sure that we’re injecting a greater sense of urgency into fraud cases than ever before.”
