(Bloomberg) -- The Justice Department charged 243 people, including 46 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, with defrauding the Medicare system of $712 million through false billing.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the charges Thursday in Washington, calling the case the largest sweep of individuals in the history of task forces that target such fraud.

“The defendants charged include doctors, patient recruiters, home health care providers, pharmacy owners, and others,” Lynch said in a prepared statement. “They billed for equipment that wasn’t provided, for care that wasn’t needed, and for services that weren’t rendered.”

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