Arizona woman sentenced to 14 years in prison for $69M Medicaid fraud scheme

A San Tan Valley woman was sentenced to 14 years in prison for her role in a massive healthcare fraud scheme that illegally billed Arizona’s Medicaid agency more than $69 million in less than a year.

In addition to her prison term, 54-year-old Rita Ntusa Anagho was ordered to pay nearly $55 million in restitution. Federal authorities also seized almost $9.5 million in fraud proceeds from seven bank accounts under her control and nearly $7 million in real estate properties.

Anagho, a licensed nurse practitioner, owned and operated Tusa Integrated Clinic, LLC in San Tan Valley.

According to court documents, Tusa fraudulently billed the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) more than $69 million between May 2022 and March 2023. The agency paid out approximately $54.9 million based on those false claims.

How the scheme worked

To fuel the fraudulent operation, Anagho recruited vulnerable patients receiving substance abuse treatment services through AHCCCS, focusing on individuals covered under the American Indian Health Care Program.

The fee-for-service plan, designed specifically for Native Americans, reimburses services at higher rates than other Medicaid programs.

Anagho submitted claims for addiction treatment services that were either never provided or not delivered as billed.

She also paid illegal kickbacks to owners of local sober living homes for patient referrals, falsifying treatment records and notes to conceal the operations.

When Tusa received a subpoena for documents during the investigation, Anagho instructed former employees to build fake medical records to obstruct federal investigators.

Anagho pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud in May 2025.

Federal officials emphasized the severity of exploiting programs intended for vulnerable populations.

“Ms. Anagho’s scheme manipulated a program that was intended to help Native Americans in Arizona,” U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona said in a release. “The 14-year sentence that she received is a sign of how serious and damaging healthcare fraud is to our society, and how important it is that we stop individuals who undermine the value of these programs.”

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division noted that the sentence serves as a direct warning to operators targeting taxpayer-funded programs.

This marks the second such case announced this week. Federal prosecutors accused a Peoria man of stealing $33 million from Arizona’s Medicaid program.

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