1,000 Patients a Week : 7 Accused of Operating Bogus Medical Clinics

Seven people--including a police officer on disability leave and his father-in-law, a disbarred attorney--have been charged with running four medical clinics in Los Angeles that were staffed mostly by bogus medical personnel. Authorities said Friday that the clinics treated about 1,000 patients a week, at up to $100 a visit.

Staffers at the chain of clinics--two in the city’s Westlake District and one each in Boyle Heights and Wilmington--routinely conducted blood and pregnancy tests, prescribed and dispensed drugs, administered injections, set broken bones, took X-rays and supervised physical therapy for accident victims, according to Los Angeles Deputy City Atty. Ellen Pais, who filed the 74-count criminal complaint.

One of the clinics has been in operation since 1983, while another opened only last fall, she said. Only two of the clinics’ 15 “medical” personnel, many of them illegal immigrants, were licensed in any health care profession, according to Pais.

When authorities arrived Friday morning to make the arrests, one patient was hooked up to an intravenous tube that had to be disconnected by paramedics, Pais said. Five of the defendants were arrested Friday morning, while the other two were making arrangements through their lawyers to surrender later in the day.

Pais said authorities were not aware of any reports of injuries having been inflicted at the clinics, in part because very ill patients were referred elsewhere. She said she believes that there may be many other such bogus clinics around the city, preying mostly on recent immigrants.

In addition to charges of practicing medicine without licenses and consumer fraud, the seven defendants were charged with exploiting their employees by forcing them to work overtime without additional pay or compensatory time off, in violation of state labor laws.

Until January, when the clinics’ operators became aware of an investigation, employees were required to work seven days a week, in 10- to 12-hour shifts, according to Pais. They were paid in cash at below the minimum wage, the complaint alleged.

City Atty. James K. Hahn said in a statement that, as a part of the prosecution, his office and the state labor commissioner will seek back wages for the clinics’ employees, some of whom are owed as much as $50,000.

The arrests resulted from separate investigations by the Los Angeles Police Department and the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance. The charges were filed on May 26 but were not disclosed until Friday, pending the arrest of most of the defendants, according to Pais.

Arrested were:

- Salvador Cano, 38, of Santa Ana. He is identified in court papers as president of Santa Ines Medical Enterprises Inc., the corporate owner of the four clinics.

The clinics are Santa Ines Medical Clinic and Bonnie Brae Medical Clinic, located in separate suites at 2033 W. 7th St.; San Cristobal Medical Clinic, 2702 E. 1st St., and La Familia Health Center, 1037 E. Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington.

Cano, who allegedly used numerous aliases, posed as the head doctor by using his wife’s medical credentials and treated a daily average of 140 patients, according to the complaint.

He was previously convicted, in August, 1986, of practicing medicine without a license in Los Angeles, for which he was ordered to pay a $600 fine and to perform 50 hours of community service. But Cano ended up serving 10 days in County Jail for failure to perform community service. Bail was set at $100,000.

- Enriqueta Silva, 40, Cano’s wife, also of Santa Ana. Silva, a licensed physician, was arrested along with her husband at the Santa Ines clinic. Bail was set at $50,000.

- James Evans Mack, 68, of Studio City. He served as secretary of Santa Ines Medical Enterprises. He was arrested at a Van Nuys law firm where he also worked as a clerk, according to Pais. Bail was set at $50,000.

Records of the State Bar show that Mack was disbarred from the practice of law in 1972 after his conviction on a tax evasion charge.

- Kelly Scott Klatt, 36, of San Pedro, who worked as a clinic administrator until this spring. He is Mack’s son-in-law and is a Los Angeles police officer currently on disability leave. Bail was set at $1,000.

As a motorcycle officer, Klatt was among theLAPD’s most prolific ticket writers. But in 1987 he faced charges that he had a hot tub party with a young woman while he was on duty.

A department board eventually found that Klatt had stopped the woman for a traffic violation without giving her a citation but that he telephoned her later. The board accused Klatt of “converting an on-duty contact into a personal relationship” and recommended a 10-day suspension without pay.

- Samantha Ann Klatt, 37, of San Pedro. She is Klatt’s wife and Mack’s daughter. She set up the Wilmington clinic and was its administrator until this spring. Bail was set at $1,000. She and her husband were arrested at their home.

- Frank Hegyi, 47, a Westside resident and a licensed chiropractor. He served as a clinic administrator. Bail was set at $75,000.

- Alan Bruce Miller, 38, of Van Nuys, an accountant and administrator for the chain. Bail was set at $1,000.

Pais said Hegyi and Miller were making arrangements Friday afternoon to surrender.

Hegyi is also charged with a separate criminal count for allegedly trying to dissuade an employee from talking to investigators. Hegyi allegedly threatened to report the worker and his family to immigration authorities.

The Board of Medical Quality Assurance began its investigations in May, 1988, after receiving an anonymous tip that clinic personnel were practicing medicine without a license.

Senior investigator Fred Argosino said in an interview that he went to one of the clinics several times, posing as a patient with back pain. He said he was prescribed a pain killer by Cano, who identified himself as “Dr. Silva,” according to the complaint.

Argosino said his office in Torrance receives four to six complaints a year from people complaining about the unlicensed practice of medicine.

“We’ve been encountering this problem more frequently,” he said.

He suggested that the area’s immigrant population is an easy target for fraudulent medical practitioners.

“I think they’re more likely to be victimized,” he said.

Independently, the Los Angeles Police Department began its investigation in February after receiving information that Klatt was working at the clinic, even though he was on paid leave for a work-related traffic accident in 1988 that supposedly had rendered him unable to work, according to Pais.

In an interview, Klatt said he could not comment on charges against him on orders from a Police Department sergeant. The other defendants could not be reached.

At the Santa Ines Medical Clinic, a man who would not give his name and identified himself only as the “financial adviser,” denied the clinic was closed late Friday afternoon.

“We are not closed. We just had some minor labor violations,” he said. “Our lawyers are handling the matter.”

The clinic occupies several rooms on the second floor of a two-story building, above a shoe shop, check-cashing operation, pharmacy and jewelry store.

Tenants in the building said about a dozen policemen arrived at the clinic Friday morning, making arrests with a great commotion.

A nurse, Edith Moreno, 24, who works at a different, unrelated medical clinic nearby, said she has received numerous complaints from people who had been treated at Santa Ines.

“Patients usually complain about the treatment they get there,” she said. “Sometimes they say the people lose their records. Sometimes there is no information about the vaccines (meaning no record), and we have to give the vaccines over again.”

The clinics in Boyle Heights and Wilmington were closed Friday afternoon without any notice explaining why.

All seven defendants are charged with one count each of false advertising.

Cano faces 71 counts, including three for practicing medicine without a license, two counts of furnishing dangerous drugs, one count of having written 14 prescriptions and numerous violations of the state Labor Code.

Silva was charged with lending her medical license to Cano, aiding and assisting with the use of that license and more than two dozen violations of the state Labor Code.

Mack was charged with 28 counts of violations of the Labor and the Unemployment Insurance codes.

Hegyi, Miller and Kelly Klatt each face three similar Labor Code violations.

Kelly Klatt faces an additional felony count for allegedly committing perjury during an police investigation of his ability to work.

Times staff writers Davan Maharaj, Elizabeth J. Mann and Claire Spiegel contributed to this article.