GLENDALE, Ariz. — Pastor Theodore Mucuranyana and his Hope of Life International Church are among 22 individuals and businesses indicted for allegedly defrauding Arizona’s Medicaid program of $60 million, the Arizona attorney general’s office announced Tuesday.
Mucuranyana, and his church face 10 felony counts of money laundering linked to a scheme involving fake claims for mental health treatment and addiction rehab services that were never provided or billed for patients who were deceased, incarcerated, or hospitalized.
The indictment accuses Mucuranyana and Hope of Life of conspiring with Happy House Behavioral Health LLC and its owners, Desire Rusingizwa and Fabrice Mvuyekure, who allegedly led the fraud from August 2022 to January 2024.
According to court documents, the church and Happy House funneled Medicaid payments through fake “sober living” housing claims. Two checks totaling $5.5 million were laundered through Hope of Life in 2023, with $2 million wired to an unknown entity in Rwanda later that year.
Happy House also leased property on the church’s grounds, adding complexity to the alleged operation.
All defendants pleaded not guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court, where a pretrial conference is scheduled for July.
Mucuranyana’s attorney, Joshua Kolsrud, called the charges “unjust,” asserting that his client is a respected leader with no criminal history. He argued that the prosecution is a political maneuver to deflect blame for regulatory failures.
Hope of Life International Church, part of the Assemblies of God denomination, primarily serves East African migrants in Phoenix, focusing on Christian outreach and support.
This case is part of a larger crackdown on fraudulent sober-living schemes in Arizona that have targeted vulnerable populations, including Native Americans enrolled in the American Indian Health Plan. The plan, originally designed to support tribal members in remote areas, was exploited due to poor oversight, with scammers submitting false rehab claims and sometimes forcing patients to use drugs to remain in treatment homes.
State Attorney General Kristin Mayes called the widespread fraud a “stunning fail of government.” To date, over 100 individuals and businesses have faced charges, and $150 million has been recovered out of an estimated $2 billion lost to these scams.
