A California health-care executive was arrested at San Francisco International Airport on December 4, 2025, as he prepared to board a flight to Nigeria, marking the culmination of a federal investigation into what prosecutors describe as a years-long scheme to divert millions in Department of Veterans Affairs funding. The intervention came as authorities moved to disrupt the alleged operation before additional funds could be routed through the business.
Cashmir Chinedu Luke, 66, of Antioch, faces charges related to his role as CEO and sole owner of Four Corners Health LLC, a Fresno-based home health-care firm. According to the criminal complaint, Luke submitted approximately 10,000 false claims between December 2019 and July 2024, obtaining more than $7 million from the Veterans Community Care Program for in-home care that often did not occur.
The Veterans Community Care Program Under Scrutiny
The Veterans Community Care Program enables eligible veterans to receive care from private providers when Department of Veterans Affairs facilities cannot meet their needs. This shift has fueled rapid expansion of outside home-care contractors across states like California, where aging veterans increasingly rely on unskilled aides for daily tasks. However, oversight of third-party providers has struggled to keep pace with the program’s growth, creating vulnerabilities that prosecutors say Luke exploited.
Four Corners Health contracted to provide unskilled, in-home assistance to elderly VA beneficiaries across seven California counties: San Francisco, Contra Costa, Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Mariposa, and Madera. Veterans in these jurisdictions became the basis for thousands of claims, some filed weeks after beneficiaries had died, underscoring how a single contractor can touch a wide geographic area before problems surface.
The Alleged Billing Scheme
Investigators allege Luke orchestrated a pattern of duplicate claims, fabricated hours, and inflated billing. The complaint cites roughly 10,000 individual false submissions over four and a half years—approximately 2,200 false claims per year or roughly 183 per month. These included claims for services never rendered, for days when no aide visited the veteran, and for alleged duplicate charges.
According to court documents, many of the allegedly fraudulent claims concerned frail, aging veterans relying on the VA’s home-care benefit. Bills were submitted for days when caretakers were not present, for hours beyond what staff actually worked, and even for care provided to veterans weeks after they had died. Luke served as Four Corners’ sole billing representative, centralizing control of the reimbursement stream and maintaining exclusive access to the company bank account that received VA reimbursements.
Financial Transfers and Flight Risk
Investigators say that once the VA paid Four Corners, Luke immediately spent or moved the funds rather than retaining them for patient care. Prosecutors allege he used reimbursements for personal expenses and routed money across a network of bank accounts throughout Asia and Africa, making recovery more difficult and suggesting an effort to distance the proceeds from U.S. oversight. This international dimension may demand cooperation with foreign financial intelligence units, as tracing and freezing potential fraud proceeds outside U.S. borders is often slower and more complex.
Luke’s attempted departure to Nigeria, combined with the alleged overseas transfers of VA funds and his ties to that country, where he lived before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, supported prosecutors’ view of him as a potential flight risk.
Prior Criminal History and Legal Consequences
Beyond the current complaint, Luke has a prior 2009 federal conviction in Maryland for conspiracy to commit identification document fraud and aggravated identity theft. Justice Department records indicate he received 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release, with a judge finding he committed perjury at trial. Prosecutors in that case said he misused multiple identities, including those of a brain-injury patient and deceased family members. This marks his second major federal prosecution in 16 years.
If convicted on the current VA fraud charges, Luke faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Those are statutory maximums; any actual sentence would be set by a judge under federal guidelines, which weigh factors such as loss amount, criminal history, and acceptance of responsibility.
Broader Implications for Oversight
The investigation highlights significant gaps in policing community-care contractors. How 10,000 false claims—including charges for deceased veterans filed weeks after their deaths—went undetected for 4.5 years raises questions about pre-payment reviews and audit procedures. Lawmakers and watchdogs may look to this case as they consider tightening controls, strengthening audits, or revising how third-party administrators flag anomalies in home-care billing across multiple counties and years. The case underscores how a single operator, working from a modest firm, can allegedly divert millions of government funds intended for vulnerable veterans while routing proceeds internationally, testing both federal enforcement capacity and public trust in privatized veteran care systems.
Sources
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California press release, Dec. 3, 2025
The Business Journal (Fresno), Dec. 3, 2025
SFGate, Dec. 3, 2025
GV Wire, Dec. 3, 2025
FOX26 KMPH, Dec. 3, 2025
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 3, 2025
U.S. Department of Justice health-care fraud enforcement summaries
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program overview