A federal grand jury indicted a hospice nurse and CEO on six counts of alleged health care fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Federal prosecutors say 34-year-old Jessa Zayas of Santa Clarita was CEO and owner of Healing Hands Hospice and Humane Love Hospice based out of Van Nuys, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

From June 2023 to May 2025, she allegedly charged at least $2.5 million in fraudulent Medicare billings.

Zayas Allegedly Stole Identities of Retirement Home Residents

Prosecutors say Zayas and others obtained Medicare information by going to retirement homes in Fresno and Kern counties after hours when managers were gone for the day. She knocked on patients’ doors and asked for personal information so she could later enroll them in hospice.

She allegedly forged doctors’ certifications to create supporting documentation. Zayas would then claim those patients had terminal illnesses and collect money for her company. In total, prosecutors allege Zayas billed Medicare for more than 100 people who weren’t terminally ill.

The FBI and U.S. Health and Human Services investigators arrested Zayas and executed a search warrant at her home. There, they seized $77,000 in cash Zayas had hidden in boxes beneath her bed.

If convicted, Zayas faces a maximum term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine for the health care fraud charge. She also faces an additional mandatory two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge.