The office manager, who worked with a Salinas doctor arrested and charged with 37 felonies in mid-May, is now facing 23 felonies of her own.

Maria “Aloha” Eclavea was arraigned this week on 23 felony insurance charges related to her role working with Dr. Steven Mangar in an alleged complex insurance fraud scheme, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.

The charges against Mangar include submitting fraudulent health insurance claims and billings, furnishing drugs to an addict, unlawful prescription of medicine to patients who didn’t have the condition for which it was intended, and enhancements alleging Mangar’s conduct resulted in him fraudulently taking more than $500,000. The unlawful prescribing charges involve prescriptions Mangar wrote at Pacific Pain Care and include oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, Dilaudid, and other highly addictive and dangerous medications.

Eclavea was the office manager of Pacific Pain Care Institute.The charges against Eclavea allege submitting fraudulent health insurance claims and billings. Her bail was set at $500,000 and, if convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 27 years in prison. Her preliminary hearing has been set for June 9.

Dr. Mangar was charged, arrested and arraigned in May for allegedly billing for services that he did not provide, knowingly providing false statements for his financial gain, prescribing controlled substances to an addict, and unlawfully prescribing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Mangar’s bail was set at $1 million, and a friend already bailed the doctor out of jail.

The Healthcare Fraud Unit of the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office prosecutes prescription drug fraud by medical providers in Monterey County. The unit also investigates and prosecutes other cases including use of another’s identity to secure healthcare benefits, embezzlement. unlawful solicitations/referrals, fraudulent billing; inflated or falsified pharmacy billings, out-patient surgery center fraud, and fraudulent disability claims.

Any patient or insurance company that believes it may have been a victim of this fraud or criminal conduct is asked to contact the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office at (831) 883-7508.