Foreign national accused of operating fake company that billed Medicare for $90M—and now he’s on the run
A 38-year-old man from Azerbaijan has been formally charged with operating a complex healthcare fraud scheme in the U.S., bilking Medicare for $90 million—and now he’s a fugitive, on the run from federal authorities.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Anar Rustamov was living in California illegally, operating a company called Dublin Helping Hands, a supposed medical supply company that has been reported to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) as a scam, charging patients and health insurers for services and products that no one needed.
The DOJ further alleges that the patients and their medical providers were not even aware of Dublin Helping Hands, with the company showing up on bills despite its services not being authorized by any doctor.
Rustamov was indicted by a federal grand jury last week, accused of filing thousands of similar false claims for medical equipment, which were billed to Medicare Advantage payers. Such plans are partially subsidized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), meaning that American taxpayers were ultimately responsible for paying for the unnecessary medical equipment.
The Azerbaijani national has been charged with 14 counts of fraud, and faces up to 20 years in prison if found, arrested, tried and convicted. The complicated billing scheme lasted for roughly nine months, prosecutors allege.
“Rustamov participated in a scheme to steal nearly $100 million in taxpayer funds from a program intended to help those who truly need medical care,” U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said in a statement. “Anyone who believes they can make easy money by defrauding such programs should know that we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and prosecute such fraud and abuse.”
Under the radar
As for how the conspiracy operated, and how Dublin Helping Hands was able to bill Medicare Advantage insurers for medical products it appears no one actually received, those details have not been revealed by the DOJ.
Once the fraud was detected, it appears Rustamov went into hiding. Authorities described him as wanted and “at large” but did not speculate as to his whereabouts.
The scheme allegedly occurred between October 2024 and April of 2025—and it’s at that time that Dublin Helping Hands ended up on the radar of authorities.
According to a consumer report with the BBB, the fake company was added to the Medicare exclusion list but remained in good standing with the state of California for an unknown period of time.
It’s not clear how long Rustamov was in the U.S. or how he got his alleged scam off the ground. For now, only a grand jury appears to have all of the details.
The DOJ did not mention the existence of any coconspirators.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.