According to an affidavit filed in federal court, many of the women sought coverage through the company because they had high-risk pregnancies and considered U.S. hospitals to be safer.
The defendants unwittingly used the women's personal information to sign them up for Medi-Cal benefits, despite the fact that the women were not eligible because they weren't California residents, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The women were charged "thousands of dollars a piece'' for the insurance and around 250 fraudulent applications were submitted as part of the scheme, according to court documents, which stated many of the women reported having no intention of signing up for government-funded benefits because they knew doing so would violate the conditions of their visas.