Ibrahim Khaldoon Hilmi, a fugitive accused of involvement in an alleged $3.7 billion fraud scheme targeting Medicare, the US government health insurance program, has been arrested in Turkey and returned to the United States, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Patel said in a post on X on Monday that Hilmi was charged in connection with an alleged $3.7 billion scheme to defraud Medicare and had been on the run since May 2025.
“Ibrahim Khaldoon Hilmi is charged with one of the biggest Medicare scams in history – allegedly orchestrating a massive $3.7 BILLION scheme to defraud Medicare. He’s been on the run since May of 2025 – but we got him.
Thanks to outstanding work from FBI Miami, the Justice… pic.twitter.com/gyLAFTrnTQ
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) June 22, 2026
“He’s been on the run since May of 2025 — but we got him,” Patel said, adding that Hilmi was apprehended overseas with the help of FBI Miami, the US Justice Department and Turkish authorities.
Hilmi was recently detained by Turkish authorities after fleeing the United States in May 2025, according to the FBI.
The bureau’s Critical Incident Response Group flew to Turkey and transported him to the United States on June 19 through a Foreign Transfer of Custody operation where he will face prosecution.
“If you steal from the American people, there will be no safe harbor for you anywhere in the world,” Patel said in a separate post on X.
He also thanked US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, saying the case “could not have been accomplished without his tireless work.”
The FBI director did not say where in Turkey Hilmi was apprehended. Turkish authorities have not publicly commented on the case.
The case comes after the Justice Department announced in June 2025 what it described as the largest health care fraud takedown in US history, with 324 defendants charged in connection with more than $14.6 billion in alleged fraud.
As part of that effort, US authorities said transnational criminal organizations had submitted more than $12 billion in fraudulent claims to American health insurance programs.
In one investigation known as Operation Gold Rush, prosecutors charged defendants in several federal districts over an alleged scheme involving medical supply companies and fraudulent Medicare claims.
Medicare is the US federal health insurance program mainly for people aged 65 and older, as well as some younger people with disabilities.