A Senate committee heard testimony from a witness who charged that clusters of small companies in Ohio are billing Medicaid from largely empty offices.

Vivek Ramaswamy is escalating the fight over Ohio’s Medicaid system, accusing Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration of letting fraud fester.

Indictments filed this month by the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost accuse five Medicaid providers of stealing a combined $542,176 from the government health-care program for the needy. Three additional people face charges for allegedly stealing from nursing home residents.