The Chief Executive Officer of a U.S–based home care company, Cashmir Chinedu Luke, has been arrested by federal authorities at the San Francisco International Airport for allegedly defrauding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,VA, for more than $7 million.
Chinedu Luke, who operates from Antioch, California, was intercepted on Wednesday while attempting to board a flight to Nigeria. His arrest followed a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice,DOJ, outlining a five-year scheme involving fraudulent medical billing.
According to the DOJ, Luke served as the sole owner and billing representative of Four Corners Health LLC, a Fresno-based agency that provided unskilled in-home nursing and personal care to elderly veterans under the Veterans Community Care Program.
Between December 2019 and July 2024, the company claimed to offer services across several California counties, including Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Mariposa, Madera, San Francisco, and Contra Costa.
Federal prosecutors allege that during this period, Luke submitted approximately 10,000 false claims for care that was never provided. The VA reportedly paid out $7 million to Four Corners Health for:
• Duplicate claims for services already billed
• Hours of care not actually worked
• Claims for days when caregivers were absent
• Claims submitted on behalf of veterans who had already died
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The complaint further states that Luke actively misled the VA’s third-party benefits administrator during attempts to recover some of the fraudulent payments, allowing the scheme to continue undetected for years.
As the sole owner of the company’s bank accounts, he allegedly profited personally, spending large portions of the funds on luxury personal expenses and transferring the rest across a network of bank accounts in Asia and Africa shortly after each reimbursement was received.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Calvin Lee is handling the prosecution.
If convicted, Luke faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The DOJ emphasized that the charges are only allegations, and Luke remains presumed innocent until proven guilty in court under U.S. federal law.
News Express
