20 people, a business and a church charged in $60 million Arizona fraud, including a $2 million wire to Rwanda
A state grand jury indicted 20 individuals, Happy House Behavioral Health LLC and Hope of Life International Church in May 2025, as part of Arizona's broader sober living home Medicaid fraud scandal. The indictment alleges Happy House was paid roughly $60 million by AHCCCS for behavioral health and addiction treatment services that were never provided or only partially completed, and for clients who were deceased or incarcerated, and that it paid $5 million of those proceeds to Hope of Life International Church, which then wired $2 million to an entity in Rwanda. These are allegations from a grand jury indictment; the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Charged (an allegation, not a conviction)
- Reported loss
- $60.0 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Sober living home and patient brokering fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-10
The facts, as recorded
- A state grand jury indicted 20 individuals, Happy House Behavioral Health LLC and Hope of Life International Church, announced by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes on 20 May 2025.
- The indictment alleges Happy House Behavioral Health was paid approximately $60 million by AHCCCS for mental health treatment and addiction rehabilitation services that were either never provided or only partially completed.
- Prosecutors allege billing for clients who were deceased or incarcerated at the time services were supposedly rendered.
- The indictment alleges Happy House operated through referral arrangements in which sober living homes referred clients to the business in exchange for payment, in violation of Arizona's patient-referral law.
- Money laundering charges allege Happy House paid $5 million in July 2023 to Hope of Life International Church, which later wired $2 million of that money to an entity in Rwanda.
- Charges named in the indictment include money laundering, theft, conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, patient/client referral fraud, and forgery.
- Defendants were arraigned the same morning in Maricopa County Superior Court.
- This indictment was part of a broader wave that, combined with earlier charges, has brought the total number of people indicted in Arizona's sober living home Medicaid fraud scandal to more than 100.
Why this case matters
This is the largest single indictment documented on this page, and the only one alleging that fraud proceeds left the country, a detail that shows how far downstream from the original Medicaid claim the money can travel before it’s traced.
An allegation, not a conviction
Unlike the other cases on this page, no one charged here has yet been convicted. The $60 million figure, the billing for deceased and incarcerated clients, and the $2 million wire to Rwanda are all allegations contained in a grand jury indictment, serious enough that Arizona prosecutors built a case around them, but not proven facts. That distinction matters most here because of how large and specific the allegations are.
A church as a named defendant
Most cases in this scandal involve clinics and sober homes. This indictment is unusual for naming a church, Hope of Life International Church, as a defendant in its own right, accused not of providing any treatment, but of receiving and moving fraud proceeds.
The caveat
Everything above is drawn from a grand jury indictment and the Arizona Attorney General’s own description of it. An indictment is a charging document, not a verdict. Happy House Behavioral Health LLC, Hope of Life International Church and the individuals named in this case are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law, and the allegations here, including the $60 million figure and the details of the church payment, have not been proven at trial. As of 2026-10-10 no later outcome was found in the sources reviewed.
Sources
- Attorney General Mayes Announces 22 New Indictments in Sober Living Home Fraud Case. Arizona Attorney General's Office. Accessed 2026-09-23. Supports: The 20 individuals plus Happy House Behavioral Health LLC and Hope of Life International Church named in the indictment, the charges of money laundering, theft, conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, patient referral fraud and forgery, the 20 May 2025 announcement, and the same-day arraignment.
- Over 20 more indictments in massive Arizona Medicaid fraud scheme involving sober living homes. KJZZ (Phoenix public radio). Accessed 2026-09-23. Supports: The approximately $60 million billed, the billing for deceased and incarcerated clients, the sober-home referral arrangement, the $5 million payment to Hope of Life International Church and the $2 million wire to Rwanda, and the more than 100 total people indicted in the broader scandal.