Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 20
FBI Captures $1.2 Billion Medicare Fraud Fugitive Herbert Leon Kimble in Philippines
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 20

FBI Captures $1.2 Billion Medicare Fraud Fugitive Herbert Leon Kimble in Philippines

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 20

Summary

  • Herbert Leon Kimble, 60, was arrested in the Philippines and returned to the United States after nearly two years as a fugitive from a $1.2 billion Medicare fraud case.
  • Prosecutors said Kimble ran a 2014-2019 scheme that used call centers to steer thousands of beneficiaries—many elderly—into medically unnecessary orthopedic braces, generating more than $1.2 billion in Medicare charges.
  • Kimble had pleaded guilty in 2019 to healthcare fraud, wire and mail fraud, false claims, kickbacks and conspiracy, but failed to appear for his August 2024 sentencing, triggering a federal warrant and international manhunt.
  • The arrest is the second from the FBI's new Most Wanted Fraudsters list in just over two weeks, after authorities last week captured Said Abdullahi Ereg.
  • U.S. officials tied the breakthrough to the Trump administration's anti-fraud push, saying the Justice Department list and cooperation from the Philippine government helped locate Kimble.

Insights

With two fugitives captured, who are the three individuals still at large on the FBI's new most-wanted list for fraud?
The mastermind of a $1.2 billion fraud is caught, but can any of the stolen taxpayer money be recovered?
What loopholes in telemedicine billing allowed this massive Medicare fraud scheme to operate undetected for five years?