A Bakersfield attorney, several of his family members, and two area doctors have been arrested and charged with having conspired in defrauding health insurance companies out of $22 million. A press release issued by the Orange County District Attorney’s on May 23, 2017, alleges that the defendants registered fake employees for insurance, but had these individuals take daily urine tests they could bill for.
The attorney arrested for spearheading these fraudulent schemes ran a number of businesses with his wife, son and daughter-in-law at the time of his arrest. In addition to owning a number of sober living homes throughout Southern California, they also operated a staffing agency and medical laboratory.
During the course of four years that they ran their scheme, the attorney and his family are alleged to have defrauded insurance companies by creating registrations for fake employees, which all happened to be residents at their sober living facility. They required these individuals to take daily urine tests which they billed insurance companies for.
Investigators determined that the family was successful in pocketing $15 million of the $22 million they billed for different charges. Prosecutors allege that the family changed insurance companies at least four times during this timeframe in an effort to avoid detection.
The doctors that were charged as co-conspirators in this case include a physician from Newport Beach and one from Corona Del Mar.
As it currently stands, the husband and wife pair are facing charges of conspiracy, money laundering and insurance fraud. If convicted of the crimes, they are each are facing as many as 47 years in prison.
The attorney has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He has no prior disciplinary action from the California State Bar Association.
In the case of white collar crimes including fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, the sentence handed down in the case of a conviction of this sort is heavily impacted by the amount of money that is alleged to have illegally exchanged hands. This fact may shape your discussion of defense strategies as you seek out the guidance of an Orange County criminal defense lawyer.
Source: www.bakersfieldnow.com, “Bakersfield attorney, family charged in $22 million urine-testing fraud scheme,” May 24, 2017