Highlights
- Rita Ntusa Anagho, 54, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for fraudulently billing AHCCCS more than $69 million.
- Her clinic, Tusa Integrated Clinic, LLC, collected nearly $55 million from May 2022 to March 2023 for services never rendered.
- Anagho deliberately targeted Native American patients because the American Indian Health Care Program paid higher reimbursement rates.
- She must repay $55 million in restitution, forfeit $9.5 million across seven bank accounts, and surrender roughly $7 million in real estate.
A San Tan Valley nurse practitioner who built a clinic on fabricated addiction-treatment records will serve 14 years in federal prison after a court found she steered nearly $55 million in fraudulent Medicaid billings through her business in less than 12 months.
Rita Ntusa Anagho, 54, owned and operated Tusa Integrated Clinic, LLC, an addiction treatment center. According to the U.S. Department of Justice and reporting by Arizona's Family, Anagho enrolled patients whose coverage ran through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and then billed for addiction treatment that was never provided or not provided as billed. From May 2022 through March 2023, AHCCCS paid Tusa Integrated Clinic approximately $54.9 million based on those false claims.
The scheme had a deliberate targeting logic. Anagho and her co-conspirators focused on patients covered under the American Indian Health Care Program because that program paid higher reimbursement rates than other AHCCCS plans. She and others illegally paid sober home owners in exchange for patient referrals to the clinic.
When AHCCCS investigators issued a subpoena for records, Anagho directed former employees to create fake medical records to cover the billing trail. She and others also forged treatment records as part of the concealment effort.
Anagho pleaded guilty in May 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud. At sentencing, U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona said the scheme "manipulated a program that was intended to help Native Americans in Arizona" and called the 14-year term a signal of "how serious and damaging health care fraud is to our society."
Beyond prison time, the sentencing order requires Anagho to pay $54.9 million in restitution to AHCCCS, forfeit $9.5 million held across seven bank accounts, and surrender approximately $7 million in real estate.
Why did prosecutors focus on the American Indian Health Care Program?
The AIHP pays higher reimbursement rates than standard AHCCCS plans, making patients enrolled in it more valuable targets for fraudulent billing. Anagho and her co-conspirators specifically enrolled AIHP-covered patients at Tusa Integrated Clinic to maximize the dollar amount they could claim per patient, according to the Justice Department.
The total fraud exposure, $69 million billed, $54.9 million actually paid, represents one of the larger single-operator Medicaid fraud cases prosecuted in Arizona in recent years. The restitution and forfeiture package, totaling roughly $71 million when combined, exceeds the amount AHCCCS paid out.
The sentencing was handed down Sept. 17, 2026. No trial date for any remaining co-defendants has been publicly announced.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- AZ Family (3TV/CBS5) retrieved 17/09/2026 20:23
- justice.gov retrieved 17/09/2026 20:23
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 17/09/2026 20:23. Every claim traces to a source.
