A Rancho Mirage woman who was the executive director of a cosmetic surgery center has been named in a superseding indictment that adds new fraud and identity theft charges to a case in which she is accused of participating in a scheme that billed insurance companies $50 million for cosmetic surgeries that were falsely claimed to be “medically necessary.”

Linda Morrow, 64, was named in a 31-count superseding indictment that was returned on August 31 by a federal grand jury. Morrow and her husband, who pleaded guilty earlier this year, were initially charged a year ago with participating in a scheme to defraud health insurance companies by submitting bills for more than $50 million for procedures that were claimed as “medically necessary” – but in fact were cosmetic procedures such as “tummy tucks,”and  “nose jobs.”

The superseding indictment adds nine new charges against Morrow – three new mail fraud charges, three counts of identity theft and three counts of aggravated identity theft charges. The new indictment expands on forfeiture allegations in the original indictment that would require Morrow, if she is convicted, to forfeit all of the ill-gotten gains obtained from the scheme, a figure that may exceed $20 million.

The superseding indictment outlines a scheme in which patients were lured to The Morrow Institute (TMI) in Rancho Mirage, where Morrow was the executive director, with promises that cosmetic procedures would be paid for by their union or PPO health insurance plans. TMI allegedly submitted bills to insurance companies seeking as much as $100,000 for individual surgeries, and as much as $700,000 for multiple surgeries. The indictment further alleges that some patients who underwent multiple surgeries at TMI suffered severe medical complications from the procedures.

“As part of the scheme charged in this indictment, the defendant allegedly used the names and signatures of patients without their knowledge to obtain payments for procedures that were not covered by insurance,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Health care fraud schemes that defraud insurance companies in this manner victimize both the insurers and the insured who are forced to pay higher premiums. This case seeks both to punish the defendants and to deprive them of their illegal profits.”

In March, Morrow’s husband – Dr. David M. Morrow, 71, of Rancho Mirage, a cosmetic surgeon and dermatologist who was the owner of TMI – pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and filing a false tax return. Dr. Morrow agreed to pay more than $1 million in restitution to victims. When he pleaded guilty, Dr. Morrow admitted that he had altered a medical record by handwriting “hernias” over the original text in the document, which had correctly listed the cosmetic procedure of “abdominoplasty” (tummy tuck).

The victim health insurance companies included Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Regional Employer/Employee Partnership for Benefits, formerly known as Riverside Employer/Employee Partnership (REEP) and Cigna.

The superseding indictment further alleges that after the FBI executed a federal search warrant at TMI in March 2011, Morrow went to the home of a TMI employee and asked whether the employee had been “the mole” who had reported TMI to the FBI.

Dr. Morrow is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Staton on December 2, at which time he will face a statutory maximum sentence of 23 years in federal prison.