Ohio fraud: ‘It’s a pile of money and the fraudsters know where the money is — that’s why they follow it’

Federal officials have homed in on Ohio in their fight against fraud, charging 14 people across the state, including nine tied to $42 million in Medicaid fraud, in cases involving Medicaid fraud, COVID-19 relief fraud, and online romance scams targeting seniors.

But unlike other states, Ohio officials have welcomed help from federal investigators and implemented their own measures to shut off the spigot of taxpayer-funded money flowing to Medicaid providers suspected of fraud.

The federal indictments, involving allegations of more than $42 million in Medicaid fraud, stem from questionable billing patterns and data anomalies initially flagged by the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

Ohio Attorney General David Yost appeared on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Friday morning and said “unquestionably” more indictments are coming. During his time as attorney general, the state has already convicted 1,087 Medicaid fraudsters, he said.

“It’s a pile of money and the fraudsters know where the money is — that’s why the follow it,” Yost said. “Your point about these cars. Incredible hubris. There was a McLaren. Land Rovers, a Bentley; it’s just amazing.”

Yost, who attended Thursday’s news conference with federal officials, thanked the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice for their efforts to investigate the cases and hold the suspected fraudsters accountable with criminal charges and asset forfeitures.

Several Trump administration officials visited the Buckeye State, also the home of Fraud Czar and Vice President J.D. Vance, to announce “unprecedented federal and state cooperation in Ohio in the fight against fraud,” according to the Justice Department.

FBI Director Kash Patel said authorities seized seven bank accounts worth $600,000 and 14 vehicles worth millions in connection with the cases announced Thursday.

“(Thursday’s) takedown of multiple healthcare companies and four individuals who allegedly robbed taxpayer funded Medicaid is the latest victory in the Trump administration’s total war on fraudsters,” Patel said.

Some Republicans in Ohio have criticized Gov. Mike DeWine for allowing such widespread fraud. The outgoing governor recently signed an executive order authorizing fraud-prevention initiatives, including an emergency rule allowing Ohio Medicaid to temporarily suspend payments to providers suspected of fraud.

Ohio State Rep. Mike Dovilla, R-Berea, also testified this week before the U.S. House of Representatives Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses regarding Ohio’s ongoing efforts to improve accountability, strengthen eligibility verification and combat fraud within the Medicaid program.

Dovilla detailed a year-long investigation into Ohio’s Medicaid eligibility verification processes. The probe began after a constituent raised concerns over weaknesses in the state’s oversight of the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (ABD) Medicaid eligibility category.

Dovilla introduced House Bill 356, which requires enhanced cooperation between the Ohio Department of Medicaid and the Auditor of State to verify Medicaid eligibility among the ABD population. The legislation became law in 2025.

“This should not be a partisan issue,” Dovilla said. “Medicaid fraud harms taxpayers, legitimate providers, public servants, and most importantly the vulnerable individuals who depend on the program. Oversight is not cruelty. Verification is not extremism. Accountability is not partisanship. It is the minimum taxpayers expect and the minimum our most vulnerable citizens deserve.”

The Charges

The most brazen case announced on Thursday involves a $30 million behavioral health scheme that billed Medicaid for services that were never provided. Four defendants, including two Ohio state employees and two co-conspirators, were charged in the Southern District of Ohio.

Prosecutors allege the defendants conspired to submit false and fraudulent claims for behavioral health services and psychotherapy for children and young adults attending summer camps, church groups and recreational programs.

The feds seized three bank accounts with $469,000 in funds and 14 vehicles worth $800,000, including six Mercedes-Benz, a Bentley, a BMW, a Jaguar, a Maserati, two Land Rovers, a GMC and a McLaren.

In a separate case filed by state prosecutors in Butler County, Robert Haley, 63, of Cincinnati, is accused of a years-long Medicaid fraud scheme totaling $12 million, WLWT 5 News reported.

State prosecutors have indicted Haley on 31 charges, including forgery, Medicaid fraud, aggravated theft, and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. He faces charges for allegedly billing Medicaid for therapeutic behavioral services that were not actually provided to children in Butler County after-school programs.

Haley reportedly submitted 60,000 fraudulent Medicaid claims, totaling more than $12 million in improper payments, between January 2020 and May 2026, prosecutors allege.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Ohio charged another four defendants for a scheme involving $1.4 million in COVID-19 relief funds paid out through the Paycheck Protection Program and Small Business Administration.

The defendants are accused of providing false information on their PPP loan applications and reporting more than $100,000 in gross income for the 2019 tax year. They allegedly submitted a fraudulent 1040 Schedule C with their applications and misused the proceeds on personal expenses, according to the criminal complaint.

Additional Consumer Fraud

DOJ officials also announced a case involving consumer fraud in the Northern District of Ohio. According to the indictment, several people from Ghana were ordered detained this week in connection with an over $15 million online romance fraud scam that defrauded over 130 victims across the United States.

Prosecutors allege that between July 2024 to April 2026, the defendants targeted older Americans on dating websites and social media platforms to engage in romance fraud schemes.

The fraudsters used artificial intelligence-generated fictitious female personas to engage with the victims, who sent money via wire transfer to financial accounts controlled by conspiracy members and transferred to co-conspirators in Ghana and elsewhere.

The investigation led federal agents to Ghana, where some defendants are awaiting extradition. Assets seized so far are estimated at more than $3 million and include a Lamborghini, Tesla Cybertruck, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

In addition, the DOJ’s Fraud Division, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and other partners announced the inaugural Fraud Division–State Partnership Roundtable in Ohio to enhance federal–state cooperation to detect, investigate and prosecute fraud.

The collaboration includes a data-sharing agreement between the Ohio Secretary of State and the DOJ’s Fraud Division that provides federal investigators access to corporate registrant data held by the State of Ohio.

A Federal-State Partnership

The Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Ohio Auditor’s Office have served as a model for state and federal partnerships, according to the DOJ, and will continue to refer cases to the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Strike Forces and U.S. Attorney’s Offices.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will continue to work with Ohio officials to identify Medicaid fraud and refer potential criminal cases to the Fraud Division.

In addition, the Ohio Department of Medicaid has suspended payments to 49 high‑risk Medicaid home health providers flagged for potentially fraudulent activity.

“No more champagne on private jets for these people, no more new cars, no more luxury endeavors and vacations. It’s done,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Investigators have identified one road in Columbus, Ohio, with 288 home health-care facilities in a several-block area, Oz noted, without specifying which road.

“Again, it defies belief,” Oz said. “Some of these buildings were vacant. You wouldn’t put anybody up in those buildings, not certainly the place that would house home healthcare.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the ongoing partnership with Ohio will help discourage fraud. Blanche and other officials also criticized Democratic-controlled states like Hawaii and Minnesota for failing to investigate or indict fraudsters.

“Compliance was so lax or nonexistence that you could literally just steal millions and millions of dollars with nobody even checking, with nobody even investigating,” Blanche said.