Post by Chidinma Onyejiuwa (@Onyejiuwa)
Nigerian-US based businessman scams California government.
A video clip by NewsNation making rounds online covers a Christopher Rufo/City Journal investigation into California Home Health Agency (CHHA) and its CEO, Nathan Ogbatue, an American-Nigerian businessman.
Chief Nathan Obiorah Ogbatue (with Igbo origin and a title in Abatete area of Anambra State) is an entrepreneur and the CEO of the California Home Health Agency (CHHA) in Riverside, California, who came under intense public scrutiny in September 2026 following an investigative report by Christopher F. Rufo and Madeleine Rowley in City Journal.
According to the report, between 2018 and 2021, CHHA collected less than $2 million from Medicaid (Medi-Cal). Over the next three years, payments spiked dramatically, totaling more than $34 million to $36 million (with 2022 near $4 million, 2023 over $17 million, and 2024 over $13 million).
Concurrently, with the surge in government-funded revenue, Nathan and his wife, Agnes, acquired at least $7 million in Southern California real estate between 2023 and 2024, including a $2.7 million mansion in Riverside and a beach house.
Ogbatue, who was crowned a traditional chief ("Owelle") of Abatete, Nigeria, in 2012, used a portion of his wealth to fund local infrastructure projects, roads, and a grand palace featuring golden statues of himself and his wife.
State records indicate that CHHA stopped filing mandatory annual utilization reports to California's Health Care Access and Information department after 2019, despite continued requests, raising red flags for fraud investigators regarding the actual volume and verification of services billed.
Ogbatue has not been formally charged with any criminal wrongdoing. When questioned by journalists, he defended his company's work as legitimate and genuine, while also suggesting that the inquiries into his business patterns stemmed from racial bias. Representatives via legal counsel stated that the revenue increase reflected expanded health plan contracts and heightened demand following the COVID-19 pandemic.
No public charge has been announced.
He can be a U.S. health administrator and hold a title in Abatete. Headlines that say only “Nigerian chief” or only “American citizen” are both incomplete. Philanthropy in Nigeria does not prove the Medi-Cal claims were clean. A palace also does not prove a crime.
The questions that matter: were the patients real, were the visits provided and necessary, were the claims accurate, and were the filings done. A large payout is not proof of fraud. No indictment is not proof the state cleared him.
The clip by NewsNation making rounds online, covering Christopher Rufo/City Journal investigation into CHHA and Nathan Ogbatue, is a public reporting, not a conclusion that anyone committed a crime. Call it an allegation until there is an audit result or a case.
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