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Friday, October 23, 2026

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Crime · Friday, October 23, 2026

Prosecutors announce a Los Angeles health-fraud takedown

The File desk · Oct. 23, 2026, 7:00 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

The Justice Department release is public. The body figure is over $1.8 billion. Headlines on the same release use a rounder number. Charges are allegations except for one guilty plea described separately.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced charges tied to health-care claims in Los Angeles. The release's paragraph says the cases involve over $1.8 billion in fraudulent claims. Eight people were arrested.
The largest piece is a sober-home case of over $1.6 billion. The release names Nathan Young, 39, also called Pablo, and David Young, 71, along with Honey Phipps, 42, and Cody Phipps, 36. Those four are charged in part under the .
The release quotes an alleged instruction, “to knock the client out.” That line is an allegation. It is not a finding.
Nicholas Moore, 33, pleaded guilty in a separate case. The release does not say he is one of the 15 people charged in the takedown.
Other pieces include about $134 million in atherectomy billing and over $138 million in hospice billing.
Why it matters (Estimate). The figure that matches the release's own paragraph is over $1.8 billion, not the rounder headline. The cases are new charges plus one separate plea. (Estimate.)
Charges are allegations; defendants are presumed innocent.
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.The Office of Public Affairs headline reads Nearly $2 Billion in Loss. FBI Director Kash Patel is quoted on $1.8 billion in losses. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli is quoted on billions of dollars in intended losses. The paragraph figure used in this story is over $1.8 billion in fraudulent claims. The crime desk's read of the Central District headline is $2 Billion in Losses Alleged. This pass did not re-open that page.
  2. 2.Charges are allegations; defendants are presumed innocent.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • Court dates for the people arrested on Thursday are not in the release.
  • This desk did not re-fetch the Central District of California page. Its headline, as the crime desk read it, says $2 billion in losses alleged.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    National Health Care Fraud Takedown in Los Angeles Results in Charges Against 15 Defendants

    U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs · October 22, 2026

    The release paragraph says over $1.8 billion in fraudulent claims. The headline says nearly $2 billion. Charges are allegations. Nicholas Moore's plea is separate.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/los-angeles-health-care-fraud-takedown-results-charges-against-15-defendants-including-6

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