By Tatiana Bautzer and Sabrina Valle

NEW YORK (Reuters) -UnitedHealth Group is weighing multiple bids for its Latin American operations, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter, as the insurer buckles down after a series of unprecedented missteps that include the ouster of its CEO and a reported criminal accounting probe.

The largest U.S. health insurer has been trying since 2022 to exit Latin America, where it has lost more than $8 billion. But the sale of Banmedica has taken on increasing urgency in recent months as the insurer took hits on multiple fronts, according to one of the people.

New CEO Steve Hemsley told shareholders last week that he was determined to earn back their trust after an earnings miss and a Wall Street Journal report that the company was under criminal investigation for alleged Medicare fraud.

UnitedHealth has said it was not notified by the Department of Justice and that it stands by the integrity of its operations.

Hemsley replaced Andrew Witty in May, just months after the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance unit, in New York in December while on his way to a meeting with investors. Witty had been UnitedHealth Group CEO since 2021.

The company has four non-binding bids for its Banmedica subsidiary, which operates in Colombia and Chile, for about $1 billion, according to both people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

UnitedHealth's shares tumbled 25.5% in May alone and year-to-date are down 40%. UnitedHealth left Brazil in 2023 and Peru in March. It is aiming to get around $1 billion for Banmedica's operations in Colombia and Chile, the people said.

The two people said the company expects to set a deadline for binding proposals as soon as July.

UnitedHealth received bids from Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm Acon Investments; Sao Paulo-based private equity firm Patria Investments; Texas non-profit health firm Christus Health; and Lima-based healthcare and insurance provider Auna, the people said. Auna is in talks with a financial partner, one of the sources added.

Patria, UnitedHealth Group and Christus Health declined to comment. Acon and Auna did not respond to requests for comment.

FAILED EXPANSION PLANS

UnitedHealth bought Banmedica in 2018, with CEO David Wichmann saying he was "establishing a foundation for growth in South America for the next decades."

At the time, UnitedHealth paid around 12 times Banmedica's annual earnings from core operations, measured by financial metric EBITDA, according to one of the people.