EXCLUSIVE: A Nigerian chieftain billed Medicaid more than $36 million, then snapped up luxury properties in California and built a magnificent palace in Abatete, Nigeria—including a golden statue of himself. The experts told us it has all the red flags for fraud. — Christopher Rufo (@christopherrufo), September 9, 2026. Last December, Chief Nathan Ogbatue arrived in a motorcade outside the grand entrance of a newly built palace in Abatete, Nigeria.
A videographer shouted praises in Igbo, calling him "half man, half god" and commending him for building the palace "free of charge" for the Abatete community. Ogbatue is hailed on social media as a philanthropist who has built roads and housing, sponsors annual medical clinics, and provides food for the needy in Abatete. He is also, it turns out, CEO of California Home Health Agency (CHHA), a lucrative taxpayer-funded company that provides in-home medical care and a range of specialty treatments.
How did Ogbatue make his money? Between 2018 and 2021, CHHA made less than $2 million from Medicaid. Then, over the next three years, the company raked in more than $34 million—a massive increase, which coincided with a series of high-dollar real estate transactions. Experts said CHHA's billing numbers raised major red flags. Ogbatue and his wife, Agnes, amassed at least $7 million worth of property between 2023 and 2024, including a Riverside mansion with a sports court, putting green, archery range, and a pool.
California's Health Care Access and Information department said CHHA has not filed a utilization report since 2019 despite continued requests. CHHA's Medicaid revenues exploded: $89,570 in 2018, nearly $4 million in 2022, over $17 million and $13 million in the following two years. The Redondo Beach home he bought had served as collateral for the bail bond of Tamara Motley, sentenced to prison in December 2023 for submitting $24 million in fraudulent Medicare claims; Motley was married to former Nigerian Senator Ahmed Ogembe, whom the Ogbatues named as a defendant in a lawsuit over the property.
Experts: "What jumps off the page is not the amount being charged for each service—it is the extraordinary volume of services being billed," said Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government. Fraud expert Mark Haskins said the company has "all the earmarks of a fraudulent shell company." A King & Spalding lawyer for CHHA said it provides medically necessary home health care via a network of more than one hundred contracted nurses and aides.
Ogbatue denied wrongdoing: "We worked really hard... we have nothing to fear." Mehmet Oz, administrator of CMS, said home health agencies in California almost doubled between 2019 and 2024, with spending up more than 21% in 2024 alone. No officials have publicly accused CHHA of wrongdoing. Source: https://www.city-journal.org/article/california-home-health-agency-nigeria-medicaid
