Criminal Investigative Updates

Christina Nolte, of Bridgeport, admitted to the theft of public money by falsifying medical records to receive disability benefits from the VA. Nolte fraudulently used her disability to have her federal student loans in the amount of $242,528 discharged. As part of a plea agreement, she has agreed to the forfeiture of $360,466.38. The VA OIG investigated this case.

Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter (brothers), of Alexandria, Virginia, were arrested for their roles in a conspiracy to destroy government databases hosted by a federal government contractor, among other crimes. Following the termination of their employment with the contractor, they allegedly sought to harm the company and its customers by accessing computers without authorization, issuing commands to prevent others from modifying the databases before deletion, deleting databases, stealing information, and destroying evidence of their unlawful activities. Muneeb Akhter is charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and to destroy records, two counts of computer fraud, theft of US government records, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Sohaib Akhter is charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and to destroy records and computer fraud (password trafficking). The VA OIG investigated this case with multiple agencies.          

Cashmir Chinedu Luke, of Antioch, California, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Nigeria. He is charged in a criminal complaint alleging that he fraudulently obtained more than $7 million in payments from the VA for services that were never actually rendered, including care purportedly rendered to veterans weeks after they had died. Between December 2019 and July 2024, Luke operated Four Corners Health LLC, which provided unskilled in-home nursing and day-to-day care for elderly VA beneficiaries under the Veterans Community Care Program in Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Mariposa, Madera, San Francisco, and Contra Costa Counties. During this time period, Four Corners submitted approximately 10,000 individual false claims of care to VA. Luke personally profited from the scheme as the sole owner of the bank account that received the reimbursement payments. The VA OIG investigated this case.

CVS Pharmacy, Inc. agreed to pay a total of $37.76 million, with $24,446,240 to the United States and the remainder to various states. The settlement resolves allegations that, from 2010 through 2020, CVS violated the False Claims Act by billing for and dispensing insulin pens to patients enrolled in government healthcare programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Specifically, CVS improperly requested and received reimbursement for premature refills, dispensed more insulin pens than patients needed per their prescriptions, and falsely under-reported the days-of-supply of insulin dispensed by its pharmacies. The VA OIG, Health and Human Services OIG, Department of Defense OIG, Office of Personnel Management OIG, and US Postal Service OIG investigated this case.

Anthony C. Brewer, of Tallahassee, served as a fiduciary under the VA’s fiduciary program and managed the monetary benefits of an individual who was unable to manage their own benefits. Brewer agreed to use the funds for the care, support, health, welfare, comfort, and desires of the individual. He subsequently misused and stole funds between October 2020 and January 2023. The VA OIG investigated this case. Sentencing is currently set for February 2026.