UnitedHealth Hit With Criminal Fraud Probe as Luigi Trial Heats Up
The probe is just the latest shock that has seen the company’s stock price plunge.
Curtis Means/REUTERS
The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into UnitedHealth Group over potential Medicare fraud, according to a report.
The nature of the possible criminal allegations is unclear, but the probe has been active since last summer, according to The Wall Street Journal. News of the investigation comes after the unexpected departure of the health insurer’s CEO and intense public scrutiny on Luigi Magnione, the suspect accused of murdering the company’s top insurance executive.
UnitedHealth said in a statement that it was unaware of the investigation and that it stands by “the integrity” of its Medicare Advantage program, which is reportedly the probe’s focus. The company declined to comment further when approached by The Daily Beast.
The Daily Beast has also contacted the DOJ for comment.
The reported fraud probe is the third government investigation into the health insurance giant in under 18 months—the DOJ opened a civil fraud probe into UnitedHealth’s Medicare billing practices earlier this year following an antitrust investigation that startred in February 2024.
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UnitedHealth Group has been in the national spotlight since December when Brian Thompson, the CEO of its subsidiary UnitedHealthCare, was allegedly shot dead on a Manhattan sidewalk outside a hotel where he was attending a business conference.
People gather at Foley Square to support Luigi Mangione.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The killing, which prosecutors have blamed on Mangione, led to an outpouring of anger over the health insurer’s policies and the wider medical insurance system in the U.S.
UnitedHealth’s stock fell after the report about the fraud probe was published. It was the latest in a series of shocks which has seen the company’s share price collapse by over 50 percent in the last month.
On Tuesday, the company’s CEO, Andrew Witty, unexpectedly resigned. Witty said he was leaving the company for “personal reasons” and will be replaced by chairman and former CEO Stephen Hemsley. The business simultaneously suspended its financial forecast for 2025, citing climbing medical costs.
Andrew Witty unexpectedly stepped down as UnitedHealth’s CEO this week.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag
Mangione pleaded not guilty to federal stalking and murder charges late last month, days before his 27th birthday. A legal defense fund for the Ivy League graduate topped $1 million after his birthday as symbolic donations of $27 rolled in.
Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty when Mangione’s case goes to trial next year.
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