Federal Authorities Conduct Early Morning Operation to Uncover Hospice Fraud

In a significant crackdown, FBI agents, alongside the Department of Health and Human Services, have raided the residence of a Southern California couple accused of orchestrating a $7 million fraud through their hospice business.

This operation was part of a series of raids conducted early Thursday morning.

In a scene resembling a movie, Amelou Gill and Gladwin Gill, proprietors of St. Francis Palliative Care in Anaheim, were apprehended at their home by an FBI SWAT team. The authorities used loudspeakers to command the couple to exit their home.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), their hospice reported a notably low mortality rate of 2.3% over the past five years.

Gladwin Gill is a psychologist, while his wife, Amelou, works as a nurse.

This enforcement action follows an investigation by the California Post, which uncovered a network of dubious doctors suspected of generating tens of millions in potentially fraudulent billing within California’s hospice industry.

Dr. Fariba Javaherian is a a registered dermatologist, but according to CMS billing data obtained by The Post, she is associated with 63 hospice facilities across California either as a medical director, attending physician or in some other capacity.

The National Provider Identifier (NPI) registered with Dr. Javaherian, a unique 10-digit number given to individual health care providers, was used for 1,662 unique patients across the 63 hospice agencies and appeared on more than 6,000 claims that billed $35,816,331.

Following The Post’s investigation, CMS revoked Javaherian’s license to bill Medicare and suspended the license of at least 16 hospice agencies associated with the dermatologist.

“Dr. Javaherian’s white coat was a costume,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said. Javaherian is not accused of any wrongdoing.

“We’ve suspended hundreds of hospices today,” Dr. Oz, who was also on the scene of the Thursday raid, told The Post.

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