Kyrenia, Cyprus. American businessman Ibrahim Hilmi, accused of devising a scheme to defraud more than $3.7 billion from Medicare, was arrested in Kyrenia and brought to the United States earlier this week, according to the US Justice Department. Hilmi made an initial appearance in a Florida court on Monday.
Charges and transfer to the United States
FBI Director Kash Patel said Hilmi, 58, is charged in what he described as one of the largest Medicare scams in history and was brought to Miami, Florida, following a foreign transfer of custody. According to Patel, Hilmi fled the United States in May 2025.
In a statement, Patel credited the FBI’s Miami field office, the US Justice Department and partners in Turkey for apprehending Hilmi. He also thanked US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, saying the case could not have been completed without his work.
It remains unclear what role officials in the occupied north of Cyprus played in the apprehension.
Indictment details
Hilmi, a resident of Miami-Dade County, Florida, is charged with health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and two counts of money laundering in a grand jury indictment dated June 11, 2026.
According to the indictment, Hilmi operated two fake healthcare companies, ABRH Care and Sunshine Senior Solutions, which allegedly functioned as shell companies created solely to fraudulently bill Medicare and other healthcare entities.
Alleged billing scheme
Starting in December 2024, the two companies allegedly submitted tens of thousands of claims worth billions of dollars for reimbursements for durable medical equipment, including urinary catheters and wound dressings that did not exist.
The indictment states that many of those who used the fraudulent companies to submit claims were foreign actors who stole the identities of legitimate medical providers.
Most of the claims submitted by the two companies were not paid and were held in suspension, which can happen when fraud is suspected, according to the indictment. However, about $5.7 million was successfully deposited into the companies’ bank accounts.
