By MMN Reporter 4.12.2025
A Nigeria-born chief executive officer of a health company based in the USA, Mr. Cashmir Chinedu Luke is cooling off in police detention over an alleged theft of over $7 million belonging to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).
Mr. Chinedu Luke was arrested in San Francisco International Airport in the State of California as he attempted to board a flight to Nigeria on Wednesday.
According to a statement by the United States department of justice, Mr. Chinedu Luke has been charged with a criminal complaint.
The statement reads, “The CEO of a Fresno-based home health care company was arrested at San Francisco International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Nigeria. He is charged in a criminal complaint alleging that he fraudulently obtained more than $7 million in payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs for services that were never actually rendered, including care purportedly rendered to veterans weeks after they had died, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
“According to court documents, between December 2019 and July 2024, Cashmir Chinedu Luke, believed to be 66, of Antioch, operated Four Corners Health LLC. That entity provided unskilled in-home nursing and day-to-day care for elderly VA beneficiaries under the Veterans Community Care Program. Four Corners provided services in Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Mariposa, Madera, San Francisco, and Contra Costa Counties.
“Luke engaged in a five-year scheme to bill the VA for hours of care that were not actually rendered to veterans. Luke caused Four Corners to submit approximately 10,000 individual false claims of care provided that caused the VA, through its third-party benefits administrator, to reimburse Four Corners $7 million for duplicate claims for care actually provided, claims for days caretakers were not present with veterans, claims for hours of care beyond those actually worked by caretakers, and claims of care for veterans who were actually dead.
Luke spent reimbursement payments immediately after being paid by the VA, either by spending lavishly on personal expenses or by promptly transferring the funds across a network of bank accounts throughout Asia and Africa.”
Mr. Chinedu Luke faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if found guilty.