Arizona AG announces 42 indictments in historic health care fraud takedown

PHOENIX - Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced nearly four dozen new indictments targeting healthcare fraud across the state, marking one of the most significant coordinated law enforcement actions in Arizona's history. The charges, filed against 42 defendants across 10 separate cases, are part of the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

What we know:

Spanning five Arizona counties, the sweeping indictments target a wide array of alleged criminal conduct including systemic Medicaid fraud, drug diversion and unlicensed medical practices. Crucially, the crackdown addresses the severe exploitation of vulnerable populations, with individual cases escalating to charges of medical neglect, negligent homicide and manslaughter.

Several of the high-profile indictments stem from a massive, pandemic-era sober-living fraud scheme that preyed on people battling addiction, ultimately costing taxpayers close to $3 billion.

What they're saying:

"These 42 indictments … show how tirelessly my office works to hold bad actors accountable," Mayes said. "We will not stop until those who exploit our health care system are brought to justice."

Dig deeper:

Among the most prominent updates provided by the Attorney General's Office was the case against Thomas Heard, who was recently sentenced to two years in prison for exploiting Native American clients to rake in more than $30 million in benefits.

Newly released 2024 body-camera footage captured the moment police raided his East Arizona mansion, uncovering luxury cars, designer handbags and high-priced watches purchased while vulnerable Arizonans were being exploited. Mayes is currently asking a judge to order Heard to pay nearly $32 million in restitution, which would include roughly $8 million generated from liquidating his mansion and its contents.

Patient deaths and unlicensed practices

The Attorney General’s Office detailed nine additional cases handled by its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, highlighting severe medical neglect and dangerous, unlicensed operations:

• Fatal neglect at care home: Seven employees at the Meadows Catalina care home face multiple felonies following the death of a vulnerable adult, Holly Dale Given. The indictment alleges a systemic lack of care and repeated, unaddressed falls led to Given's death. One defendant, Paula Fox, faces manslaughter charges, while the remaining six are charged with vulnerable adult abuse.
• Unlicensed midwife charged in infant death: In Snowflake, 73-year-old Lorraine Ferrante and her business face charges of fraudulent schemes, identity theft, negligent homicide and practicing midwifery without a license. The state alleges Ferrante practiced illegally from 2020 to 2025, resulting in the in-utero death of an unborn child in February 2025.
• Multi-million-dollar racketeering: Irfan Fazil, 54, of Yuma, alongside his clinic, is accused of operating a racketeering enterprise that defrauded the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) out of millions between July 2025 and May 2026. Charges include fraud, theft, money laundering and the unlawful administration of dangerous drugs.

Fraudulent clinics and illicit cosmetic schemes

Newstart Integrated Clinic: Eighteen people and the clinic itself face felonies for a kickback scheme. Defendants allegedly paid individuals to refer AHCCCS beneficiaries to the clinic, defrauding the program of more than $1 million.

Slimming Grace: Based in Kingman, a nurse practitioner and six co-defendants allegedly put prescriptions in patients' names without consent, administered drugs without valid consultations and misrepresented themselves as licensed medical professionals.

Phony Botox and fillers: In separate cases, two unlicensed women face felony charges for operating illegal cosmetic businesses. Brandi Dees, 30, of Phoenix, allegedly performed Botox and dermal filler procedures using products that may not have been FDA-approved. Michelle Alderman, 48, faced similar charges for providing unlicensed lip filler services through her Kingman business, The Pout Company.

Identity theft and drug diversion

Stolen identities in Nogales: Edgar Torres, 38, is accused of assuming another person's identity to perform unlicensed medical procedures, endangerment and unlawfully possessing prescription drugs for sale.

Pharmacist opioid diversion: Michael Maurice Jadda, a 34-year-old licensed pharmacist from Peoria, allegedly abused his position to forge oxycodone prescriptions, diverting the highly addictive narcotics for personal use and street sale.

Kris MayesArizonaCrime and Public Safety