Phoenix-area church charged in massive Medicaid fraud scheme sent over $2 MILLION to Rwanda: prosecutors

Two men hit with fraud charges could face life in prison with prosecutors alleging that they fraudulently collected more than $60 million from Arizona’s Medicaid program and funneled millions through a Phoenix-area church to Rwanda.

Desire Rusingizwa and Fabrice Mvuyekure are accused of using sober living business Happy House Behavioral Health LLC to collect over $60 million for false or inflated treatment plans, billing taxpayers through the state’s Medicaid program for patients who were dead, incarcerated, or hospitalized, per the Maine Wire.

The indictment alleges that Happy House paid $5.5 million to Hope of Life International Church, where Theodore Mucuranyana, its pastor, is accused of helping transfer over $2 million to an unnamed entity in Rwanda. 

Rusingizwa and Mvuyekure were charged in a 51-count indictment in 2025, with the case drawing little attention. Over 20 people, Happy House, and Hope of Life International Church have been named as defendants in the case. Prosecutors have offered plea deals to defendants, with most defendants facing a January 26, 2027 trial assignment. 

Between August 22 and July 2023, Happy House is accused of billing the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS, for clients who were dead, in prison, or hospitalized, as well as charging for excessive services and using incorrect billing codes. 

At the center of the case is an alleged referral arrangement, in which sober living centers directed residents to Happy House, sometimes requiring people to obtain services there. Happy House then billed Medicaid, and used those funds to compensate the homes that referred the patients. AHCCCS lists Happy House as suspended effective July 21, 2023.

Happy House issued two checks for over $2.8 million each on or about July 21, 2023 for Mvuyekure and Julienne Desire. It issued a $5 million check to Hope of Life three days later, with the church already receiving a check for $500,000 around a month prior. 

In December of 2023, the church, acting through Mucuranyana, was accused of wiring $5,000, and then $2 million, to an unidentified Rwandan entity. 

Mucuranyana faces four counts of second-degree money laundering, while the church faces six. Mucuranyana has pleaded not guilty.