Attorney General Bonta Secures Guilty Plea and Two-Year Prison Sentence in $400,000 Medi-Cal Fraud Case

September 21, 2026 Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced Maki Martinez-Gruninger pled guilty to a felony charge of defrauding the Medi-Cal program and will serve two years in state prison for stealing more than $400,000 from the State of California through a scheme that exploited a disabled family member. The California Department of Justice (DOJ) received a complaint alleging that Martinez-Gruninger fraudulently claimed to be the In-Home Support Services (IHSS) provider for a disabled family member. According to the complainant — who was the individual's sole caregiver — they discovered in December 2019 that Martinez-Gruninger secretly applied to be the disabled family member's IHSS provider in November 2007. As a result, Martinez-Gruninger allegedly submitted false claims to the IHSS program for over a decade. “Let this conviction serve as a clear warning to anyone attempting to defraud Medi-Cal: You will be found out and held fully accountable,” said Attorney General Bonta . “Those who defraud these vital programs are not just breaking the law. They are stealing from taxpayers, endangering patient care,