Fake rehab centers scam Native Americans far from home, officials warn during investigations

Grassroots advocates hold a Native American gourd rattle at Drumbeat Indian Arts, Monday, July 31, 2023, in Phoenix. The women are trying to help find lost Native Americans who were left without a place to stay after the phony treatment centers in the Phoenix area abruptly shut down when Arizona cut off their Medicaid money amid investigations into widespread fraudulent billing. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Grassroots advocates Raquel Moody, left, Coleen Chatter, second from left, Reva Stewart, and Geri Long, right, stand outside their headquarters at Drumbeat Indian Arts, Monday, July 31, 2023, in Phoenix. The women are trying to help find lost Native Americans who were left without a place to stay after the phony treatment centers in the Phoenix area abruptly shut down when Arizona cut off their Medicaid money amid investigations into widespread fraudulent billing. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Grassroots advocates Reva Stewart, left, and Raquel Moody, right, pack up individual hygiene kits for clients at Drumbeat Indian Arts, Monday, July 31, 2023, in Phoenix. The women are trying to help find lost Native Americans who were left without a place to stay after the phony treatment centers in the Phoenix area abruptly shut down when Arizona cut off their Medicaid money amid investigations into widespread fraudulent billing. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The Drumbeat Indian Arts headquarters, where a small group of grassroots advocates work to help Native Americans cut off from their Medicaid money amid investigations into widespread fraudulent billing, is shown Monday, July 31, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

This undated photo shows Autumn Nelson. A member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, Nelson was recruited to a treatment center for alcohol addiction in the Phoenix area, but was left on the street after she questioned how it was being run during a widespread investigation into fraudulent billing at such places in Arizona. Now back on her reservation, Nelson is among hundreds of Native Americans from around the West who have been recruited to centers with false promises of treatment for their addictions. (Autumn Nelson via AP)