People were recruited to pose as dying patients in Medicare fraud schemes, officials alleged.
FBI agents and other law enforcement officials arrested eight of 15 people suspected of $60 million in hospice care fraud as part of a federal multi-state investigation in Los Angeles County, authorities announced April 2.
“Medicare reimbursed these companies for services that were intended to go to patients dying from a terminal illness,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in Los Angeles told reporters during a press conference. “Instead, these defendants recruited beneficiaries who were not terminally ill and paid them to pose as patients receiving hospice care.”
The defendants include three nurses, a chiropractor, and a psychologist, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
Six of the defendants were set to make their first court appearances in Los Angeles. One is set to appear in an Idaho district court.
“The Southern California region is a high-risk environment for hospice-related and many other forms of health care fraud,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
Lolita Beronilla Minerd, 65, of Anaheim, a licensed nurse, was arrested and charged with health care fraud. Minerd owned and operated Topanga Hospice Care Inc. from July 2020 to April 2025 in Artesia, California, and prosecutors say she used the company to submit about $9.2 million in fraudulent hospice claims to Medicare and was paid more than $8.5 million.
Investigators alleged one of Minerd’s clients was approached at a grocery store about signing up at her facility and was later visited at home by her employee. The client and the client’s spouse, neither of whom had a terminal illness, were each promised $300 in cash each month if they signed up, along with vitamins, wheelchairs, and other supplies.
Defendant Gladwin Gill, 66, a psychologist, and his wife Amelou Gill, 70, a registered nurse, both of Covina, California, were arrested and also charged with health care fraud.
The Gills owned and operated St. Francis Palliative Care in Glendale, California, and allegedly submitted $5.2 million in fraudulent claims. They received more than $4 million and are further accused of laundering the proceeds through personal expenses such as international flights, restaurants, and bills.
Nita Almuete Paddit Palma, 76, who is currently serving time in prison for her third conviction for health care fraud, was charged with her husband Adolfo Catbagan, 68, of Glendale, in an 11-count indictment, of operating at least three fraudulent hospice care facilities. Her husband was arrested during the operation.
Palma, who is a lawful permanent resident from the Philippines, and Catbagan were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud and 10 counts of health care fraud.
According to Essayli, Palma and her husband submitted at least $4.8 million in fraudulent claims through three companies, resulting in at least $4.2 million in payments from Medicare, despite Palma’s incarceration. The couple faces decades behind bars, Essayli said.
