DOJ charges 10 in Southern California in major health care fraud sweep

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged 10 Southern California defendants in separate health care fraud schemes that included nearly $270 million in alleged fraudulent Medi‑Cal claims and about $27 million in alleged Medicare fraud, the Justice Department said.

The arrests were part of the Justice Department’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which charged 455 people nationwide in schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged fraud, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference.

“Fraudsters can no longer rip off American taxpayers,” Blanche said, and he added that authorities would seize assets and prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law, the department said.

In the Central District of California, prosecutors said five people were arrested in the greater Los Angeles area in a scheme that allegedly submitted nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi‑Cal. The U.S. Attorney’s Office identified one defendant as Christina Mareik, 61, also known as Christina Marie Sanchez Hernandez of Whittier. Prosecutors allege Mareik helped facilitate prescriptions that generated nearly $270 million in claims to Medi‑Cal and that the program paid out more than $178 million; they said some claims involved expensive drugs with low‑cost generic ingredients that were not medically necessary or were never provided.

Prosecutors also charged Oren David Shachar, 59, of Van Nuys; Abraham Shin, 66, of Corona; and Jeannie Choi, 57, of Torrance in a 16‑count indictment alleging they conspired to defraud Medicare of about $27 million. The charges listed by prosecutors include conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, monetary transactions involving criminally derived property exceeding $10,000 and violations of the Anti‑Kickback Statute.

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