Six people have been charged with Medi-Cal fraud by the California attorney general, following a long-running investigation into the former healthcare nonprofit known as Borrego Health. State prosecutors announced a pair of felony charges against a contract dentist named Husam Aldairi and five employees at the 40/30 Dental clinic in downtown El Cajon. “When providers defraud Medi-Cal, it not only undermines the integrity of the program, but it also poses a significant threat to the patients who rely on its critical services for their health and well-being,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to hold accountable those who perpetrate Medi-Cal fraud,” Bonta added. “We must ensure that the program remains reliable and accessible in providing quality healthcare to those who need it most.” Aldairi referred questions Monday to criminal defense attorney Brian White, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The El Cajon dentist and his co-defendants face up to five years in prison if convicted, not including added time for special allegations. The charges accuse Aldairi and his employees of conspiring to defraud the state of more than $847,000 between 2016 and 2020. But the criminal counts — conspiracy and insurance fraud — represent only a fraction of the claims related to the alleged misuse of federal healthcare dollars, according to the nonprofit healthcare provider’s own bankruptcy filings and other court records. When it filed for bankruptcy in 2022, Borrego Health identified a slew of casinos, restaurants, resorts and even a public-relations firm among creditors to which it owed between $50 million and $100 million. The year before, the nonprofit also sued El Cajon businessman and philanthropist Daryl Priest, its former billing vendor and landlord, alleging that he cheated it out of millions of dollars by greatly overcharging rent on various properties. “The lease terms are unconscionable, and would result in the diversion of millions of ‘over-FMR’ (fair market value) dollars of federally funded health program money to entities owned by a friend of the CEO,” it said in the federal lawsuit, which is still being litigated. The El Cajon offices of Priest’s medical billing company, Premier Healthcare Management, also was searched by state and federal agents. Nonetheless, four years after the investigation began, the charges brought have been limited to Aldairi and his employees. The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to follow-up questions about the status of the probe or the criminal charges. The criminal investigation burst into public view in October 2020, when scores of state and federal agents descended onto at least five Borrego Community Healthcare Foundation offices, simultaneously executing search warrants and seizing computers, documents and all manner of evidence. The sprawling federally qualified health center, or FQHC, known as Borrego Health had for years operated medical and dental clinics across San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. FQHCs are specially designated taxpayer-funded healthcare clinics that deliver medical, dental, mental health and other services to low-income people in rural communities across the United States. At one time, Borrego Health was the largest-funded FQHC in the nation, even though it was based in the tiny northeast San Diego County community of Borrego Springs. Within months of the search warrants being served, state regulators suspended millions of dollars in payments. Borrego Health also began closing clinics and sought bankruptcy protection as the investigation into fraudulent billing pressed forward. The last of its assets, which once exceeded $340 million in federal reimbursements during a single year, were acquired by DAP Health of Palm Springs last year. In the days and weeks immediately following the raid, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported numerous stories detailing excessive salaries, questionable billings and suspicious expenses by the nonprofit health provider. Some current and former members of the nonprofit’s board of directors said that in addition to questionable billing practices, investigators were looking at nepotism, self-dealing among Borrego Health officials and annual salaries that in some cases exceeded $600,000 a year or more. “The problem was money was being made fast and furiously, and the people making the money were dizzy with the thoughts of how lucrative this business is,” former board member and retired school superintendent Martha Deichler told the newspaper. “It was like a speeding train that got out of hand,” she said. “It was greed and mismanagement.” Records later obtained by the Union-Tribune showed two contract dental clinics in particular submitted eye-popping reimbursement requests. One center in Desert Hot Springs, a Riverside County city of roughly 30,000 north of Palm Springs, reported 445,000 patient billings in a single year. The El Cajon facility reported seeing more than 225,000 patients in the same 12-month period. Aldairi, whose 40/30 Dental clinic was collecting more than $6 million a year from Borrego Health, federal tax filings showed, told the Union-Tribune in 2020 that he ran a busy practice. “I have seven to eight associates that work from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day,” he said then. “I have 50 employees at three clinics. I am fully staffed, and we see no less than 150 patients a day.” Public records show the Dental Board of California in 2021 accused Aldairi of gross negligence, repeated acts of negligence and various record-keeping violations. His license was revoked, but regulators stayed the revocation in favor of two years probation. Records show Aldairi’s dental license remains current through Jan. 31, 2025. However, the state Franchise Tax Board suspended 40/30 Dental this past April, records show, meaning the clinic is not legally permitted to transact any business. The 40/30 clinic is located in the same Priest-owned complex as Premier Healthcare Management. Three other dental businesses established by Aldairi — Aldairi DDS, Aldairi Dental DDS and Husam Aldairi DDS — have also been recently suspended by state tax regulators, records show. Besides Aldairi, the criminal defendants include Laith Aziz Alani, Rawaa Attar, Lilyan Krikorian, Inci Narin and Fadi Faras Shammas. State records show Narin is a licensed dentist. The case has been assigned to the East County courthouse.