{"success":true,"data":{"id":"91ee09d8-0b16-421a-93d8-33dbf58265e1","title":"6 Charged With Stealing $11 Million From Indiana Taxpayers In Medicaid Fraud Scheme","summary":"Be lovers of freedom and anxious for the fray Exapnd Full Navigation Close search bar Search for: 6 Charged With Stealing $11 Million From Indiana Taxpayers In Medicaid Fraud Scheme By: Hannah Bates 4 min read Image CreditMarek Studzinski / Unsplash Committing fraud and stealing from taxpayers is ba...","content":"Be lovers of freedom and anxious for the fray\n\nExapnd Full Navigation\n\nClose search bar Search for: \n\n# 6 Charged With Stealing $11 Million From Indiana Taxpayers In Medicaid Fraud Scheme\n\n By: [Hannah Bates](https://thefederalist.com/author/hannahbates/)\n\n 4 min read \n\nImage Credit[Marek Studzinski / Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/a-stethoscope-on-top-of-a-stack-of-money-mmzuzrieEXg)\n\nCommitting fraud and stealing from taxpayers is bad enough, but it is especially egregious when it’s committed against our most vulnerable citizens\n\nHannah Bates\n\n*   Copy Article Link\n\nIndiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced Wednesday that six people who allegedly defrauded the state’s Medicaid program of over $11 million are facing felony charges, continuing the nationwide crackdown on fraudsters stealing taxpayer dollars.\n\nThe six fraudsters accumulated the money by billing for services never provided, a[press release](https://events.in.gov/event/attorney-general-todd-rokita-files-charges-in-109m-medicaid-fraud-case?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=State+of+Indiana) reported, and were connected to Senior Home Care Agency, which provides waiver services for Indiana Medicaid, including “Attendant Care, Home and Community Assistance, and Transportation services.”\n\n“Committing fraud and stealing from taxpayers is bad enough, but it is especially egregious when it’s committed against our most vulnerable citizens,” Attorney General Rokita said in the press statement. “Our office is committed to holding these bad actors accountable, and we’re not going to tolerate it in Indiana.”\n\nThe press release estimates the alleged fraudsters may have cost Indiana residents $11.2 million. The costliest accused couple, Alexander D. Byrnes and Faith A. Casas, potentially stole $10.9 million. They are both facing 14 counts of Level 4 Felony Fraud, 35 counts of Level 5 Felony Fraud, and 1 count of Level 6 Felony Fraud, the press release revealed.\n\nByrnes could face a higher sentence because of his past criminal record. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to “felony counts of forgery, theft, and fraud,” Indiana’s[Fox 59 reported](https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/docs-indy-man-took-international-trips-purchased-designer-brands-after-obtaining-millions-in-medicaid-fraud-scheme/). Byrnes’[court records](https://public.courts.in.gov/mycase/#/vw/CaseSummary/eyJ2Ijp7IkNhc2VUb2tlbiI6ImV2MWdtUzRoLWRBZmthNzVnUGE5dWxUdVFPVVNGNGpVNUNWUG1BZVVjOEkxIn19)indicate that he faced six years in prison for stealing over $50,000. Then the judge in his case, Grant W. Hawkins, suspended all but two days of his sentence under a plea that required him to pay $161,433 in restitution and serve over 800 hours of community service. After Byrnes finished paying off his restitution in 2025, Hawkins vacated the original felony convictions, and Byrnes instead pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor theft counts.\n\n[Fox 59 reported](https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/docs-indy-man-took-international-trips-purchased-designer-brands-after-obtaining-millions-in-medicaid-fraud-scheme/)that as owner of the Senior Home Care Agency, Byrnes “approved fake caregiver hours into the company’s reporting system for any unused client hours.” By billing the elderly and sick for non-existent work, Byrnes accumulated enough cash to spend $330,000 on nightclubs, $28,000 on DoorDash, over $540,000 on Novo Custom Home Design, and $42,000 on a Rolex watch, according to court documents.\n\n“It is important to remember that these people are stealing from taxpayers — from you,” Rokita stated in the press release.\n\nPurported criminals Nichole A. Hoyt and Jessica K. Schoof together stole almost $224,000, and Cortez L. Crook and LaShawn N. Wright allegedly stole over $75,000.\n\nThe Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit that investigated the fraud is mainly funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a federal grant. Only 25 percent of the task force is funded by the State of Indiana, according to the press release.\n\nUnder direction and funding from the Trump administration, Attorney General Rokita was able to follow Vice President JD Vance’s directive to “aggressively” go after fraud. In May, Vance announced that “his anti-fraud task force is going to force states to prove that they actually prosecute fraud, threatening to strip billions from state legal coffers if they do not comply,” the[Federalist reported](https://thefederalist.com/2026/05/13/we-are-going-to-turn-off-the-money-vances-anti-fraud-taskforce-to-make-states-prove-they-prosecute-fraud/).\n\nVance’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud came months after an Office of Inspector General report revealed that Medicaid[dished out $400 million](https://thefederalist.com/2026/01/14/report-medicaid-paid-out-400-million-to-dead-recipients-in-just-one-year/)to deceased people in a single year. A[report](https://thefederalist.com/2025/10/31/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals/) from last year revealed that five states and Washington, D.C. gave illegal immigrants over a billion dollars of taxpayer money.\n\nA different way the Trump administration is combating the ongoing Medicaid misuse is through the 2026[National Health Care Fraud Takedown](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/national-health-care-fraud-takedown-results-455-defendants-charged-connection-over-65), which has found health care fraud cases in 45 states thus far. The Justice Department has brought charges against 455 defendants that cost the American people over $6.5 billion from health care and opioid schemes. The takedown also captured foreign fraudsters from Kyrenia —a city in Cyprus — Estonia, and the Philippines who stole a combined total of $15.5 billion through healthcare and telemedicine schemes. Fifty state Medicaid Fraud Control Units participated in helping the Trump administration take down fraudsters.\n\n“As today’s cases and arrests show, there is no case too big, no scheme too complex, and no hiding place too remote for our relentless fraud-fighting team. Our message is simple: if you put profit over patients, you should expect to be put in prison,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division in a DOJ [press release](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/national-health-care-fraud-takedown-results-455-defendants-charged-connection-over-65).\n\n[Christopher Jacobs](https://thefederalist.com/author/cjacob/)July 17, 2026\n\n[Christopher Jacobs](https://thefederalist.com/author/cjacob/)July 10, 2026\n\n[Christopher Jacobs](https://thefederalist.com/author/cjacob/)July 8, 2026\n\n[Christopher Jacobs](https://thefederalist.com/author/cjacob/)July 6, 2026","source_name":"The Federalist","source_url":"https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/23/6-charged-with-stealing-11-million-from-indiana-taxpayers-in-medicaid-fraud-scheme/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=6-charged-with-stealing-11-million-from-indiana-taxpayers-in-medicaid-fraud-scheme","url":"https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/23/6-charged-with-stealing-11-million-from-indiana-taxpayers-in-medicaid-fraud-scheme/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=6-charged-with-stealing-11-million-from-indiana-taxpayers-in-medicaid-fraud-scheme","author":"Hannah Bates profile](https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/fdrlst-default-thumbnail-150x150.jpg)","author_name":"Hannah Bates profile](https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/fdrlst-default-thumbnail-150x150.jpg)","published_at":"2026-07-23T18:02:44.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-23T18:02:44.000Z","image_url":"https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/marek-studzinski-mmzuzrieEXg-unsplash-1200x675.jpg","category":"health","topic":"health","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":4,"word_count":798,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot","language":null}}