Illegal Immigrant Accused of $90M Medicare Scam Using Thousands of Fake Medical Claims
An illegal immigrant has been accused of running a Medicare scam through a company that submitted $90 million in false claims, per the Department of Justice.
Anar Rustamov’s organization, “Dublin Helping Hand,” was based in the San Francisco Bay Area and allegedly served as the vehicle for fraudulent activity.
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian announced criminal charges late last week against Rustamov, formerly of Sunnyvale, California, for “perpetrating a large-scale fraud targeting federal health care funds distributed through the Medicare Advantage program,” according to a Friday news release.
“Anar Rustamov, a national of Azerbaijan who appears to have entered the United States illegally, was indicted [Thursday] by a federal grand jury and charged with health care fraud for a scheme involving thousands of false claims for medical equipment totaling more than $90 million,” it continued.
The scheme allegedly involved thousands of fraudulent claims being sent to Medicare Advantage Organizations on behalf of “unsuspecting beneficiaries” for medical equipment, including blood glucose monitors and orthotic braces.
The indictment added that from October 2024 through June 2025, Rustamov used the organization “Dublin Helping Hand” to mask the “large volumes of claims to MAOs offering Medicare Part C benefit plans.”
There were no patients in need of the equipment, nor did medical providers authorize it, the Justice Department said.
Rustamov is reportedly still at large. If apprehended and convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation.
“When the Administration declared a War on Fraud, it meant to target exactly this kind of conduct. Rustamov participated in a scheme to steal nearly $100 million in taxpayer funds from a program intended to help those who truly need medical care,” Missakian said.
“Anyone who believes they can make easy money by defrauding such programs should know that we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and prosecute such fraud and abuse,” he added.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo added, “This case alleges a calculated scheme to exploit a critical health care program for personal gain, attempting to siphon tens of millions of dollars through thousands of fraudulent claims for medical equipment.”
“Programs like Medicare Advantage are funded by American taxpayers and exist to provide essential care to those who need it most — not to be manipulated for profit,” he explained. “The FBI and our partners will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who attempt to defraud these vital programs and hold them accountable.”
The prosecution came about as a result of a probe by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the FBI.
The news comes after President Donald Trump tasked Vice President J.D. Vance with rooting out nationwide fraud, following the Somali daycare scandal in Minnesota, where it is estimated that billions of dollars in taxpayer funds were stolen.
Both Trump and Vance have promised to dig into similar fraud schemes and have cited California, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota as their top targets, among others.
The commander-in-chief signed an executive order last week officially putting Vance in charge of an “anti-fraud task force.”
“There is strong reason to believe similar vulnerabilities exist in California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado, where insufficient safeguards and weak oversight increase the risk of large-scale fraud,” the order said.
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