A top hospital official and an operator of a homeless facility were reached by the long arm of the law and now are facing charges after they allegedly worked together at an elaborate plan to recruit homeless people, hospitalize them as phony patients and bill the government programs for millions of dollars for their health-care treatment.

Yesterday (Wednesday), FBI agents knocked at the doors of Rudra Sabaratnam, chief executive of City of Angels hospital, and Estill Mitts, operator of a homeless assessment center in Los Angeles's downtown "Skid Row." The two were put under arrest for working together to convince homeless individuals to act as patients and fill the hospital’s beds, U.S. attorney Thomas P. O'Brien's office confirmed.

"Individuals who saw a great deal of money were trying to line their pockets illegally with millions of dollars that were intended to go to the elderly and the sick," said O'Brien. He added that the investigation is still under way and other defendants may be indicted in the near future.

City attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office has also filed suit against the two institutions for using homeless people as "human pawns." The suit also includes the hospitals chief executive officers and other alleged co-schemers.

FBI agents raided and served search warrants at City of Angels Medical Center, Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center and Tustin Hospital and Medical Center, the Bureau said.

The people charged in this case were luring homeless people with money - $30 in average – and convincing them to check into hospitals where they were receiving unnecessary treatment, the civil complaint mentioned. The diagnosis were not only unnecessary, but in some cases were potentially harmful. According to Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, one of the homeless patients was given a nitroglycerin patch, a measure which dropped her blood pressure to very low levels endangering her life.

"This is a shameless exploitation of the homeless population," said Mr. Delgadillo.

The investigation in this case began after a video recording by Los Angeles Police Department officers who noticed an ambulance dropping off five homeless people in downtown LA. When asked about what had happened, one of the homeless people gave details about the alleged recruitment scheme.