Felipe Ruiz and Jose Gabriel Aguirre admitted to a multi-year scheme defrauding Medicare and Medi-Cal by submitting false claims for Medicare Skin Graft Fraud procedures never performed by a licensed provider. Ruiz, a podiatrist, purchased skin grafts from Aguirre, a sales rep with no medical license, and allowed him to treat patients, then billed for the work under his own name. They now face sentencing in 2026 with severe penalties.

Case Details/Scheme Overview

• Felipe Ruiz, podiatrist, operated West Coast Podiatry across Fresno, Madera, Stanislaus counties, involved in a Medicare fraud scheme.
• Ruiz bought skin grafts from Jose Aguirre, a non-medical sales representative.
• Aguirre applied the grafts to elderly patients under Medicaid/Medicare, an action requiring medical licensure.
• Fraudulent billing: Ruiz filed claims with Medicare/Medi-Cal, falsely attesting he did the procedures.
• Ruiz then paid Aguirre from the fraudulently gained reimbursements.

Legal Action & Sentencing

• Investigation led by HHS Office of Inspector General and FBI revealed the scale of this skin graft fraud case.
• Both pleaded guilty and await sentencing on January 20, 2026.
• Each faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, with the final sentence at the court’s

Broader Context

• The case highlights a pattern: unlicensed individuals performing high-dollar procedures and fraudulent billing in wound care and skin grafting, underscored by the Medicare skin graft fraud involvement.
• Enforcement agencies are prioritizing crackdowns on these schemes, as seen with similar cases statewide.

This shocking case is a textbook example of how lack of oversight can harm public health programs and vulnerable patients.