A Linda Vista doctor convicted of bilking...

A Linda Vista doctor convicted of bilking the state Medi-Cal program of more than $100,000 was ordered Wednesday to repay the money and perform 800 hours of volunteer work.

Saying “no good purpose” would occur if she sent Dr. Uong Van Vu to prison, San Diego Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Zumwalt placed him on five years’ probation.

She ordered Vu, 53, to spend nine months in a work-furlough program, but stayed the custody until an Oct. 8 review hearing. The exact amount Vu is to repay the state will be determined then.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Ronald Prager had asked Zumwalt to send Vu to state prison for three years and estimated Vu received $250,000 stemming from false claims he submitted.

“He submitted bills for things he never did. This case cries out for a state prison commitment,” Prager said. “This defendant orchestrated a well-thought-out plan . . . to maximize the amount of money he could steal from the taxpayers of California.”

He said Vu would have to work 26 hours a day on patients to match the number of patients he said he treated during a particular period. Prager said Vu billed the state for people “who never came to his office.”

Because of his guilty plea on May 1 to grand theft over $100,000, Vu’s medical license could be revoked by the Board of Medical Quality Assurance. His attorney, Peter Hughes, said those proceedings are expected to start soon.