4 Accused of $7-Million Scam Using Medi-Cal Claims

Four employees of a Valencia firm were charged Thursday with perpetrating a $7.2-million Medi-Cal scam that involved using the names of thousands of aid recipients, the state attorney general’s office said.

Eliseo Sur of Granada Hills, Macario Tiu Sr. of Valencia, Carol Dunbar of Newhall and Lisa Cabuntala of Los Angeles were arraigned in Los Angeles Municipal Court on charges of taking part in the alleged fraud while they worked at Bruce Pharmacal Inc., said Dennis Cowan, chief investigator for the state attorney general’s Los Angeles office.

Sur, Dunbar and Cabuntala face charges of grand theft and filing false claims. Tiu was charged with offering kickbacks.

Roy Pacia, owner of the medical supply company that specialized in providing incontinence supplies for elderly and disabled patients, was indicted last December on charges of grand theft and filing false claims. He fled the country before he could be arrested, and state investigators said they believe he is in the Philippines.

Between January, 1987, and November, 1990, the firm submitted groundless claims for supplies for Medi-Cal beneficiaries that were not prescribed by doctors, state investigators said. The company submitted claims without the beneficiaries’ knowledge for supplies that were never provided, Cowan said.