Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas recently formed the Sober Living-home Investigation and Prosecution (SLIP) task force to stop large scale insurance fraud and to address citizen and community complaints and concerns about criminal activities occurring within the addiction treatment industry. Rackauckas said Orange County has become known as “Rehab Riviera,” with many addicts coming to the region from out of state, and that sober living homes, which have quickly proliferated.
And his efforts seem to be paying off. SLIP just netted 11 defendants in a multi-million dollar, large scale insurance fraud scheme. Five doctors, two administrators, and four body brokers were charged with participating in this scheme.
The physicians charged in the case are:
— Dr. David Michael Scarpino, 53, of Huntington Beach, who faces one count of conspiring in aiding and abetting the unauthorized practice of medicine and 19 counts of insurance fraud, with sentencing enhancement allegations of aggravated white collar crime exceeding $100,000
— Dr. Gary Lamont Baker, 54, of Tustin, who is charged with one count of conspiring in the unauthorized practice of medicine, five counts of insurance fraud and one count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury
— Dr. Fritz John Baumgartner, 61, of Rancho Palos Verdes, who is charged with two counts of conspiring in the unauthorized practice of medicine, four counts of rebates for referral, three counts of conspiracy to commit medical insurance fraud, five counts of insurance fraud and one count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, with a sentencing enhancement for aggravated white collar crime exceeding $500,000
— Dr. Michael Henry Wong, 53, of Irvine, and Dr. Nabil Charle Morcos, 66, of Irvine, who are both charged with one count of conspiring in the unauthorized practice of medicine and 22 counts of insurance fraud, with a sentencing enhancement for aggravated white collar crime exceeding $100,000.
Also charged are Thuy Rucks, 78, of Mission Viejo, the owner of SoberLife USA at 10900 Warner Ave. in Fountain Valley. He faces one count of unauthorized practice of medicine, four counts of unlawful offer or receipt of consideration by claims handler for referral, four counts of conspiracy to commit medical insurance fraud and three counts of insurance fraud, with a sentencing enhancement for aggravated white collar crime exceeding $100,000.
Christianne Tiemann, an administrator for SoberLife USA, is accused of hiring “body brokers” who recruited prospective patients who were paid $1,000 to receive a surgical implant of Naltrexone, an opioid blocker. The 66-year-old Trabuco Canyon resident is charged with one count of unauthorized practice of medicine, four counts of unlawful offer or receipt of consideration by claims handler for referral, four counts of conspiracy to commit medical insurance fraud and three counts of insurance fraud.
The defendants accused of recruiting patients are:
— Dylan James Walker, 27, of Huntington Beach, who is charged with 62 felony counts of false and fraudulent claims
— Harrison Anthony Romanowski, 27, of Huntington Beach, who is charged with 35 felony counts of false and fraudulent claims
— John T. Kahal, 67, of Dana Point, who is charged with 16 felony counts of false and fraudulent claims
— Jordan Tyler Hendrickson, 25, of Studio City, who is charged with 14 felony counts of false and fraudulent claims.
The recruiters allegedly mined for patients at sober living homes and AA meetings, among other venues, Rackauckas said.
The defendants are accused of participating in a scheme that subjected patients to a procedure that was experimental, not FDA approved, and dangerous and billing insurance companies such as Anthem Blue Cross, United Health Care and Centene (Healthnet) on average $40,000 per surgery. Some who received surgeries were addicted to methamphetamine and not opiates.