Behind a locked gate in one of California’s wealthiest enclaves sits a $28 million estate that taxpayers may have unknowingly financed.
A Ferrari and a Genesis sat parked in the driveway of the Hidden Hills mansion when reporters returned for a second attempt at answers.
This time, the gates were shut tight. A Tesla eventually pulled away from the property, but the man reporters came to question, Curtis Kurkova, was nowhere inside.
Kurkova, a licensed respiratory practitioner, purchased the sprawling property through a limited liability company, complete with soaring windows and a backyard pool.
Bank records show he secured a loan of nearly $19 million in January to finance it. By April, he had posted photos of his new home to Instagram, captioning the images simply: “Checkmate.”
The purchase capped a remarkable financial run for HeroCare, the medical supply company Kurkova runs.
Federal Medicaid data show the business pulled in at least $40.5 million from the government program since 2020. Roughly $34.4 million of that sum arrived in just two years, 2023 and 2024.
Kurkova’s husband, Christian, broadcast the family’s growing wealth on social media throughout the boom.
One now-deleted video showed him unboxing shoes while referencing a meme about government reimbursements.
A 2023 post showed the pair kissing aboard a private jet, with a caption comparing their lifestyle to the Netflix drama “Narcos.”
A three-month investigation, including conversations with fraud specialists, found a company whose public footprint barely matches its financial scale.
HeroCare’s website offers no biography for its manager and lists an empty online shop. Midway through the investigation, a “Featured Products” section disappeared from the site altogether.
Phone calls to the number listed on HeroCare’s website went unanswered, prompting reporters to visit the addresses tied to the business in person.
The first stop, a medical plaza in Chino listed as HeroCare’s street address, led to a locked unit answered by a woman with no knowledge of the company.
She identified the space as home to an entirely different business, Pristine Home Health.
A second address in Van Nuys, listed as HeroCare’s mailing location, showed a small paper sign taped to a locked door with brochures wedged into the frame. Weeks later, the sign was gone.
The Kurkovas’ financial ascent traces back several years.
Curtis and Christian adopted a daughter in 2018 and married the following year in Napa Valley, asking wedding guests to help fund a honeymoon in Thailand.
Their finances shifted dramatically in 2020, when the couple signed a $1.1 million deed of trust on a Riverside County home.
Three more properties followed within three years: a $4.7 million home in Sherman Oaks, a $1.45 million retreat in Big Bear, and a $9.8 million estate in Encino.
State filings classify three of the couple’s properties, including the newly purchased Hidden Hills mansion, as rental units.
Curtis Kurkova declined to clarify which homes the couple owns versus rents when asked directly.
Property records also reveal a previously undisclosed identity change.
A deed connected to the sale of the Big Bear home shows Kurkova once went by Curtis Ray Hotchkiss Jr., a name he legally abandoned in 2023.
Business filings show similar churn: between mid-2024 and mid-2025, Kurkova formed and dissolved several related entities, including HeroCare East LLC and HeroCare 2 LLC, the latter formally canceled after Kurkova stated it had never conducted business.
A man named Michael Amar, previously known as Michael Hotchkiss and also a licensed respiratory practitioner, launched a separate company called Hero Healthcare Group in 2025.
That company’s listed phone number matches one HeroCare used publicly in 2023. Reached by phone, Amar insisted repeatedly that his company has no connection to HeroCare LLC.
State health officials confirmed that medical-equipment-distribution licenses tied to the names Michael Hotchkiss and Curtis Kurkova both expired earlier this year.
HeroCare’s Van Nuys address, officials said, still carries an active site license.
The broader Medicaid system in California has faced scrutiny for years, with federal health officials estimating a 25 percent fraud rate within the state’s Medi-Cal program since 2019, according to City Journal.
No government agency has publicly accused HeroCare of misconduct, though comparable companies in the same industry have faced steep penalties.
SuperCare Health Inc. settled fraud allegations for $3.31 million in 2021, while Lincare Inc. paid $25.5 million in 2024 over claims involving ventilator billing.
HeroCare’s marketing describes a company devoted to pediatric respiratory equipment, yet federal billing data show nearly 30 percent of its Medicaid revenue came from urinary catheter codes.
Revenue figures show extraordinary growth: $7,800 in 2020, $396,500 in 2021, $5.68 million in 2022, $15.56 million in 2023, and $18.86 million in 2024.
Sam Adolphsen, a fraud expert and former chief operating officer for Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, said the numbers themselves tell a story.
“Huge year over year billing increases, with claims for multiple types of urinary catheters, from a specialty respiratory shop, billed to nearly identical patient counts month after month, by a provider bragging about private jets—that raises a lot of questions that must be resolved,” he said.
“This appears to be, by definition, a credible allegation of fraud, in a state where the political leadership seems to totally ignore fraud.”
Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government, called the growth pattern a red flag demanding federal attention.
“Medicaid fraud often reveals itself through outliers,” he said. “HeroCare Medical is a California-based respiratory equipment and supply company serving medically fragile children, including children who need tracheostomy, ventilation, oxygen, and other home respiratory support. That is an extremely small and vulnerable population. The growth from roughly $8,000 in 2020 to more than $18.8 million in 2024—and about $40 million from 2020 through 2024—is the kind of statistical anomaly that demands a serious investigation. At a minimum, DOJ, HHS-OIG, and California Medicaid officials should determine whether the services were medically necessary, actually delivered, and properly billed.”
Reporters sent Curtis Kurkova, Christian Kurkova, and Michael Amar a detailed list of findings ahead of publication, including the reported billing totals.
None responded. Shortly after, a lawyer identifying himself only as “Mike” called, accused the outlet of bias, and refused to say whether HeroCare remained in operation before suggesting he might not represent Kurkova at all.
