A Florida health care administrator accepted bribes in exchange for helping a nursing home owner accused of orchestrating a $1 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme keep his license, federal prosecutors said.

Bertha Blanco, 66, faces federal criminal charges in a wide-ranging investigation that federal authorities are calling the nation's biggest health fraud case, The Miami Herald reported . She was charged earlier this month.

Blanco made about $31,300 a year overseeing inspections at nursing facilities owned by 48-year-old Philip Esformes, an extremely wealthy businessman who owns dozens of Miami-Dade nursing facilities as well as homes in Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago, prosecutors said.