The California Department of Justice has arrested five people as part of a crackdown on hospice fraud in the state. 

The suspects were part of an alleged hospice fraud ring, CBS News reported Wednesday. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the scheme defrauded California of $267 million using bogus charges to the state's Medicaid program. 

The state Justice Department, in a joint operation with other state agencies, alleges the suspects purchased identifying information for non-California residents from the dark web and enrolled them in the state Medicaid program. Straw owners bought 14 hospice companies, then billed the state for hospice care for the stolen identities. 

The hospice companies were state-licensed and approved by the California Health and Human Services Agency. 

The arrests come after independent journalist Nick Shirley began exposing hospice fraud in California.