Nationally, 73 people were named - many as part of an organized crime ring federal officials suspect is Armenian based.
Law enforcement discovered a trail of false store front doctors offices and stolen identities for patients that lead to Medicare paying out $19 million... for non-existent medical services.
FBI Special Agent Frank Figliuzzi of the Cleveland office says the local charges include not just health care fraud, but mail fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering and more; and that the victims, are taxpayers.
"Ripping off government agencies is not about defrauding a faceless government bureaucracy. this is about ripping off our grandparents, our parents and ultimately all of us who will be involved in the medicare system."
Two of the doctors and four of the patients whose identities were stolen were in Ohio, with the false storefront offices operating in Canfield, Mahoning County.
The nationwide sweep also included arrests in New York, New Mexico, Georgia, and California.
