Civic Education Academy · Protection Guide
Protect Yourself & Your Relatives — fraud patterns by topic
D · Draft — not verified Not line-checked against the Navajo Nation Code. How we verify →
The schemes documented on this site share one shape: services aimed at Native people, paid by public money, sitting in the seams where no single watcher owns the whole picture. This page collects the patterns by topic — each one with the case study that teaches it and the door where you report it. Patterns and systems only; this page names no individuals and accuses no one.
Healthcare
Pattern: treatment that chases the payment, not the patient
- Fake or predatory “treatment”: recruiters offering rides, housing, or quick help that ends at a billing address. Case study: the sober-living scheme.
- Procedure-volume medicine: clinics where the answer is always another billable procedure. Case study: the Modern Vascular matter.
- The pattern is national, not one company: in August 2024 a Texas radiology group and its founder agreed to pay nearly $8.9 million to settle DOJ allegations of the same shape — kickbacks to physician-investors for PAD referrals (allegations only; no liability determined). Same disease, same payment seam, different state.
- Your checks: look up any physician at azmd.gov (AZ) or nmmb.state.nm.us (NM); you always have the right to your records and a second opinion from your IHS or 638 provider.
- Report: Medicare fraud — 1-800-MEDICARE or HHS OIG · Arizona Medicaid fraud — AHCCCS.
Housing & economic development
Pattern: public money out the door before the promises are verified
- The unverified-promise deal: big commitments, contested delivery, and the public record as your only friend. Case study: ZenniHome & the contested $24 million — a claims-versus-findings walkthrough.
- Your checks: ask for the agreement, the milestones, and who verified them — those are public-record questions any community member may raise at chapter.
- Report / pursue: Navajo Nation Auditor General (audits programs, chapters, enterprises) · Ethics & Rules Office (officials’ conduct).
Every topic
The shape to recognize anywhere
Evaluation tools
Vulnerable relatives + public funding + a seam between regulators = the conditions every documented scheme used. When something feels off, ask the seam questions: Who licenses this? Who pays for it? Who checks the checker? Which of those three ever talk to each other? Sharpen the skill at Know the Tactics and Hidden Obstacles.
Where to report, in one place
The doors
Official resources
- Medicare fraud: 1-800-MEDICARE · HHS Office of Inspector General
- Arizona Medicaid (AHCCCS) fraud: azahcccs.gov/Fraud
- Physician conduct: Arizona Medical Board · New Mexico Medical Board
- Navajo Nation programs & chapters: Office of the Auditor General
- Navajo Nation officials’ conduct: Ethics & Rules Office
Related
All case studies · Know the Tactics · How oversight works · Healthcare Mission