Two Arrested In Medicare Scam Involving Homeless, Hospitals

Washington (dbTechno) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested two people involved in a major Medicare scam which was carried out at the City of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles. The Medicare scam involved recruiting homeless people for fake medical treatments.

The owner and chief executive of the City of Angels Hospital Ruda Sabaratnam was arrested, along with the operator of a homeless assessment center in LA’s Skid Row, Estill Mitts.

The two were arrested following a raid carried out on three medical centers, who are all believed to be involved in the scam in some capacity.

The FBI has charged the two arrested with conspiring to talk homeless people into acting like patients.

Over the past four years, they would reportedly recruit homeless people, including those addicted to drugs and such, to come into the hospital and act like patients.

The homeless people would be promised money, usually around $30 each time, and were then given unnecessary medical services.

These medical services were paid from money taken from Medicare, as well as Medi-Cal.

The two arrested have been indicted on 21 counts for their roles.

Sabaratnam faces up to 50 years in federal prison, while Mitts faces up to 140 years.

The facilities involved in the Wednesday raid include City of Angels Medical Center, Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center, and Tustin Hospital and Medical Center.