Pasadena doctor pleads guilty in workers’ comp fraud case allegedly involving OC judge – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

By PAUL ANDERSON

A doctor from a company based in Rancho Cucamonga with ties to a former Orange County prosecutor who is now a state judge pleaded guilty Friday to his role in a workers’ compensation fraud scheme.

Dr. Kevin Tien Do, 59, of Pasadena, pleaded guilty to single counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. U.S. District Judge John Holcomb set sentencing for July 11.

Do, who worked with Liberty Medical Group Inc., conspired with a former prosecutor with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office who is now an Orange County Superior Court judge, federal prosecutors alleged in court papers.

The alleged co-conspirator was not named, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Israel Claustro has ties to Liberty Medical Group, according to psychologist Nhung Phan, who sued Liberty Medical Group in October for about $100,000 in bills. unpaid bills you prepared for workers’ compensation claims. .

Phan told City News Service that when he alerted the medical group that he was not paid for 84 reports he prepared for the company from Aug. 2, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2017, Claustro initially said in an email that the invoices They were paid. but someone would have to stop by the warehouse to check it. When he followed up, the emails were marked as undeliverable.

“They never gave me any information about it,” Phan said. “He kept saying they had to look in the warehouse.”

Cloister’s attorney, Paul Meyer, told City News Service: “It is premature to comment.”

Kostas Kalaitzidis, spokesman for the Orange County Superior Court, said last month: “The court cannot discuss any case pending before any court, as ethics rules prohibit such discussion.”

Do said the accomplice was the actual owner of the company, although it is not legal for someone other than a doctor to own such a business. And he also admitted in his deposition Friday that even after he was told he couldn’t work for the company because of his prior conviction, he continued to write reports with the doctors’ names.

“They paid me $306,111 for work I shouldn’t have done,” Do said.

Do also admitted that he failed to report $66,227 in income on his 2021 income tax return. That was income he received that was paid to an entity he controlled and not in his name to cover up the fraud, prosecutors said.

A nine-page document filed under seal on Dec. 27 was referenced during the hearing, but no details were discussed.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Pell declined to comment on the case after the hearing.

Do was previously convicted in August 2003 of complicity in health care fraud, according to the Medical Board of California. Do was sentenced to one year in federal prison in October 2003 and ordered to pay $366,031.24 in restitution, according to the medical board.

Do participated in a scheme to defraud Medi-Cal from April 1997 to late 1998, according to the medical board.

In his current case, Do admitted in his plea agreement that from October 2018 to February of last year, he participated in a scheme to defraud the state of millions of dollars in health care funds through workers’ compensation, prosecutors said.

Do drafted medical reports related to workers’ compensation that he would then bill to the state’s Subsequent Injury Benefits Trust Fund, prosecutors said. Do was suspended from the state workers’ compensation program because of his 2003 conviction, but continued to work in the program, prosecutors said.

Do fraudulently included the names of other doctors on billing forms and medical reports because he was unable to do so, prosecutors said. Do admitted in the plea agreement that Liberty received more than $3 million from the state for reporting after his 2018 suspension, prosecutors said.