Kamal Ghorui
Federal prosecutors in Chicago have charged several foreign nationals with running vast Medicare and health insurance fraud schemes that allegedly siphoned more than $1 billion from US government programmes and private insurers by billing for medical equipment and tests that were never provided.Court filings describe shell companies, empty offices and false claims for items such as glucose monitors, catheters and diagnostic tests. Investigators say the schemes relied on stolen patient data and exploited weaknesses in the Medicare system.
First case
In the first case, prosecutors charged Anuar Abdrakhmanov, a citizen of Kazakhstan, with conspiracy to launder money linked to Medicare fraud. Court documents say he took over a legitimate medical supply company in Kentucky, Priority One Medical Equipment, and used it to submit about $666 million in false Medicare claims between March and August 2024. Abdrakhmanov entered the United States on a summer work visa in May 2023 that expired four months later but stayed in the country. He became a member and manager of Priority One in April 2024 after buying the company from its previous owner. During this period, Medicare received around 250 complaints from patients who said they never received the equipment they were billed for. Investigators also found that six Medicare beneficiaries in Illinois neither requested nor received glucose monitors or catheters and did not have diabetes.When authorities visited Priority One’s Kentucky office in July 2024, it was empty and not operating. Workers told investigators their only task was to collect mail and send photos of it via the encrypted app Telegram to a supervisor they had never met. Financial records show checks were sent by FedEx to Chicago suburbs, including one $1 million cheque that was misplaced and later recovered, earning the worker a $2,000 bonus. While Medicare suspended payments, Medigap insurers paid at least $450,000. Prosecutors say Abdrakhmanov then wired about $182,000 to Hong Kong and tried to send over $200,000 to other foreign accounts.
Second case
A second case involves another Kazakhstan national, Tair Smagul, who lived in Chicago and is accused of laundering money tied to a separate Medicare fraud scheme. Prosecutors allege Smagul controlled Connecticut-based Medical Home Care Inc and took part in a nationwide operation that billed nearly $953 million for catheters that were often unnecessary or never delivered.Medicare reportedly got over 27,000 complaints about Medical Home Care. Patients interviewed by investigators said they never received any supplies, and doctors listed as having prescribed the equipment said they never approved it
Third case
In a third case, prosecutors charged Pakistani nationals Burhan Mirza and Kashif Iqbal with orchestrating a $10 million fraud involving diagnostic tests and medical equipment. Mirza allegedly ran a business in Pakistan, while Iqbal lived in Texas and worked with US-based accomplices to submit false claims using stolen patient information. Prosecutors say millions were routed through shell companies with fabricated names. Iqbal is also accused of lying to federal investigators about his role.
