The state has so far indicted more than 100 individuals and recouped $125 million. But despite state and federal efforts, it’s likely that most of the stolen taxpayer money won’t be recovered, officials say.

Two years after Arizona officials revealed a $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud scheme that targeted Native Americans seeking treatment for addictions, the state has recovered just a fraction of the taxpayer funds lost to fraud.

The Arizona attorney general’s office is leading the criminal investigation into the network of behavioral health providers and sober living homes that from 2019 to 2023 exploited the American Indian Health Program to obtain inflated Medicaid payments. Investigators found fraudulent operators didn’t provide the services they’d billed for and sometimes allowed patients to continue the substance use for which they had sought treatment.

The state has so far indicted more than 100 individuals and recouped $125 million — or about 5% of the funds the state estimates it paid to bad actors.

Here is the indictment that lists the names (PDF warning) https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/docs/press-releases/2021/indictments/PHX_9842071_v1_P_2020_0158_SUN_VALLEY_SERVICES_TRUE_BILL_.pdf