The Major Medicare Fraud Uncovered in Philadelphia is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
By Easton Martin | August 4, 2026
Federal and state law enforcement agencies unveiled sweeping criminal charges on Tuesday against 12 individuals and a Philadelphia home healthcare agency in connection with an alleged $5.76 million scheme to defraud the Pennsylvania Medicaid program.
The multi-agency enforcement effort includes three major federal indictments alongside parallel charges brought by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. The charges detail widespread fraudulent billing for home care services that were never provided to patients.
According to court documents released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, personal care aides and Medicaid recipients conspired to submit false time sheets for care that coincided with international vacations, jail sentences, and secondary employment.
In one federal indictment, defendant Charles Bowie faces health care fraud and wire fraud charges for allegedly billing Medicaid for home care services while vacationing in Saudi Arabia, Jamaica, and Colombia. Another indictment charges Santino Coccia with billing for care he allegedly provided to his father at times when he was actively completing hundreds of trips as a driver for a national rideshare and food delivery platform.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf called the alleged conduct an unacceptable theft from American taxpayers, pointing out that the fraudulent claims involved billing for care provided by individuals who were in prison, deceased, or traveling abroad.
The announcement coincides with the official expansion of the Justice Department’s Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force into the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to increase data-driven prosecutions of health care fraud across the region.
