Woman gets prison in huge AZ Medicaid fraud scheme

A woman who worked behind the scenes to recruit health care clinics into a fraudulent scheme that systemically defrauded Arizona’s Medicaid system for millions of dollars was sentenced Wednesday to three and a half years in prison.

The sentencing makes Ariell Dix, 37, the first person incarcerated for their role in the far-reaching scandal that mainly targeted Native Americans seeking drug and alcohol addiction treatment. Authorities say the overall conspiracy — which included hundreds of facilities and many bad actors — resulted in fraudulent billings that totaled more than $2.5 billion. Dix's role generated just part of that, about $30 million, authorities said.

Dix pleaded no contest to two felonies in two cases brought against her. The charges were the same: illegal control of an enterprise.

In court filings and testimony, prosecutors said Dix worked with a Nevada company, L&L Investments, that brought health care clinics into the fold of the scheme.

Dix helped clinics set up shop, at times finding office space and ensuring a flow of patients, records show. She then, according to court filings, procured the lists of essential information about patients — names, dates of birth and insurance information — that allowed the spigot of money to flow.

Dix’s attorney, John Blischak, did not return a request for comment.

Dix came to Arizona from Nevada, where she was accused of a similar Medicaid fraud scheme.

She pleaded guilty in that case in March 2020 and was sentenced to probation and to pay restitution of about $363,000 to Nevada’s Medicaid system. She permanently lost her ability to bill to that system.

But by that time, court records show, Dix already had set up shop in Arizona where L&L Investments grew its consulting business — and the alleged fraudulent billings — exponentially.

Most of the patients billed through the L&L Investments scheme were on the Native American Health Plan, even though some non-Native people enrolled in that program.

Dix was portrayed in court documents as a key player in the scheme. She recruited new businesses to work with L&L Investments and managed the paperwork and the money.

Included in court filings was a to-do list that Dix created. It listed various tasks she needed to accomplish that week, including site visits to clinics in Arizona, and work for clinics in Illinois and Georgia.

The state started investigating the scheme in which Dix was involved in April 2020. In November of that year, she and the other businesses were suspended from Arizona’s Medicaid system.

From January 2019 through June 2020, authorities said the fraudulent billings tied to Dix totaled $20 million.

By then, Dix already was involved in activities that would bring her second indictment.

Dix, according to a court filing, helped setup a business called Arizona WellCare. She found an office, ordered supplies and worked to get it licensed by Arizona health officials. Once up and running, court records say, she helped create fake patient notes to back up billing requests.

From May 2020 through September 2021, that company sent phony bills totaling $10 million, court records show.

Dix was charged in the first case along with 12 other people and 14 businesses. She was charged in the second case in March 2023.

This March, she pleaded no contest to one charge in each case.

Her plea deal said that any incarceration would cover both cases in Maricopa County and any probation issues from Clark County, Nevada.