You have commented 375 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Fraud Report: 89 Hospice Companies Located in Los Angeles Office Building
2026-03-21
Next question: Who are the fraudsters? More Somalis doing work the locals won’t or is this a case of homegrown talent?
In Van Nuys? Likely Russians or Armenians
[Breitbart] An unassuming office building on a side street in Los Angeles is being called a “ground zero” example of suspected, widespread hospice care fraud underway in California.

The Merabi Professional Medical Plaza, a 32,000-square-foot, stucco and glass building in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the LA’s San Fernando Valley is reportedly the home to 89 licensed hospice companies.

The building is among the most extreme cases of what's known as "clustering" to turn up in a sweeping CBS News investigation — a grouping of large numbers of hospice offices that state auditors consider a major red flag for potential fraud.

The Van Nuys address for Merabi Plaza appears dozens of times in state records for licensed hospice companies. Inside the building's entry hall, a directory lists numerous hospice agencies that line the long tiled hallways, although the building's owner claims many are no longer there.

Sheila Clark, a patient advocate working to expose fraud in the hospice industry, called the building a “ground zero” example of the financial exploitation of taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

The building and the state records of the companies located there were highlighted Thursday in the latest installment of an ongoing investigation by CBS News into hospice fraud in Los Angeles.

“Clustering” was cited in a 2022 California State Auditor’s report, which back then even found one building had 150 licensed hospice and home health agencies — “a number that exceeds the structure’s apparent physical capacity.”

That report also found that Los Angeles County had experienced a 1,500 percent increase in hospice companies countywide since 2010.

“That’s six times more hospice providers than the national average relative to the county’s elderly population,” CBS reported.

As for the Van Nuys building, federal records show regulators visited multiple suites in Merabi Plaza between 2021 and 2025 and found nearly 400 violations at 75 companies, according to the network’s report.

They included reports of no one visiting a single patient, phony drug prescriptions, and services for patients that were alive and not suffering life-threatening conditions. Hospice companies bill Medicare and state programs like Medi-Cal for their services — programs funded by U.S. taxpayers.
Related:
Fraud 03/20/2026  More Minnesota Grifting, Ya Betcha: Lakeville couple flooded with state mail on paid leave, unemployment benefits addressed to mystery businesses
Fraud 03/20/2026 All Your (Fill in the Blank) Belong Us - Soviet of Washington: Has Washington Found a Way to Stop People From Moving Out of the State?
Fraud 03/19/2026 FBI and IRS agents will work together to investigate nonprofits for links to domestic terrorism

Related:
Van Nuys: 2026-02-07 Dr. Oz Unmasks Billions In Hospice Fraud Tied To Foreign Mafias And Welfare Scams
Van Nuys: 2025-07-09 4 Anti-ICE Activists Arrested for Planting Tire Spikes near Federal Police Units in Los Angeles
Van Nuys: 2025-05-03 Death in the Valley: Two Israelis Murdered Saturday in San Fernando Valley
Posted by:Skidmark

#6  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: trailing wife   2026-03-21 21:46  

#5  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Super Hose   2026-03-21 10:21  

#4  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Chantry   2026-03-21 09:52  

#3  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Mullah Richard    2026-03-21 09:30  

#2  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Besoeker   2026-03-21 09:10  

#1  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: ed in texas   2026-03-21 08:51  

00:00