An Anaheim woman was among eight people arrested last week in a massive federal healthcare fraud takedown that authorities say was carried out in coordination with Vice President JD Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

Lolita Beronilla Minerd, 65, also known as “Lolita Beronilla Rice,” is a licensed vocational nurse who owned and operated Topanga Hospice Care Inc., based in Artesia. Federal prosecutors say she used the company to submit more than $9.17 million in fraudulent hospice claims to Medicare between July 2020 and April 2025. Medicare paid out more than $8.5 million before investigators caught up with her.

The scheme was straightforward and brazen: Minerd allegedly billed Medicare for hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill. Under federal law, hospice care is reserved for people with a terminal diagnosis and a life expectancy of six months or less. Minerd’s company recruited patients through paid marketers, prosecutors say, approaching people at grocery stores and community settings and signing them up regardless of their medical condition.

One couple told investigators they were approached at a market and later visited at home by Minerd and three Topanga employees. They were told that if they enrolled, services would be free — and that they would each receive $300 a month in cash. The money was delivered in envelopes, $600 total per month for six months. Neither person had a terminal illness, and their doctor confirmed it. They also received unsolicited items: nutritional shakes, non-prescription vitamins, and wheelchairs they didn’t need.

By one key metric, the numbers tell the story. Topanga Hospice had a non-death discharge rate of approximately 85 percent — meaning only 15 percent of patients in hospice care actually died. The national average is 17.2 percent. When nearly nine out of ten hospice patients walk out alive, something is wrong.

Minerd was arrested Thursday on a federal criminal complaint charging her with health care fraud. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra M. Michael of the Major Frauds Section.

Part of a Larger Crackdown

Minerd’s arrest was one of eight announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California under “Operation Never Say Die,” a coordinated sweep targeting hospice fraud, private insurance fraud, and immigration health document fraud across Southern California.

In total, the eight defendants are charged with scheming to defraud the healthcare system out of more than $50 million.

“We are enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for criminals who defraud American taxpayers,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “The defendants arrested this morning who are charged with stealing millions of dollars of health care benefits got caught and now face years in federal prison.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis called Southern California “a high-risk environment for hospice-related and many other forms of health care fraud,” noting the U.S. loses hundreds of billions of dollars annually to healthcare fraud nationwide.

The operation was announced as being coordinated with the Vice President’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, the White House anti-fraud initiative launched under Vice President JD Vance earlier this year.

Other defendants in the sweep include a Covina couple who operated a sham Glendale hospice, a Chatsworth nurse who billed Medicare $3.8 million through a Tarzana facility, a Simi Valley man who forged physician signatures on Medicare enrollment forms, and four South Bay defendants charged in a $19 million scheme targeting a longshore union’s health plan.

Health care fraud carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.