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has bought Kobe Bryant's sneakers and Ferraris with taxpayer funds. That's what law enforcement officials recently told CBS News during a tour of a warehouse in Southern California filed with dozens of luxury vehicles and sports memorabilia. The national news desk, Jeff Harris, joining us. As we know, Jeff, this disclosure comes as the federal government continues to clamp down on fraud nationwide. Let's start with California. Tell us more about what happened here. So, by some government estimates, at least $500 billion is lost to fraud schemes each and every year. However, CBS News reports that number could be over $1 trillion with LA's top federal prosecutor saying tracking down those stolen funds is quite difficult. He tells CBS, "Seizing
physical assets has been a first step in those efforts." pointing to assets recovered from serial fraudster. You see him right here, Paul Randall, an Orange County man who pleaded guilty back in April to a massive health care fraud scheme, submitting hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to California's Medicaid program for expensive prescription drugs. Now, the DOJ seizing numerous luxury assets from him, including multiple vehicles. It should offend every American taxpayer that these people are taking advantage of the system and enriching themselves.
He submitted above $270 million worth of claims to the state of California through Medi-Cal. He was paid $170 million. A global data analytics company telling CBS what makes recovering these funds so difficult is that the vast majority are moved out of the country before authorities have a chance to step in, projecting 70% of the money lost to fraud each year ends up in the hands of transnational criminal gangs. With Randall's guilty plea to wire fraud, he now faces up to 30 years in prison, where he's going to be sentenced later on this summer. Now, he was out on bond awaiting sentencing on another federal fraud charge when he started this latest scheme.
