California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Doctor Accused of Medicare Fraud

Federal officials charged a former Chinatown orthopedic surgeon with filing as many as 11,000 false Medicare claims, including some for services during a period when passport records showed he was out of the country. In their civil complaint, the U.S. attorney’s office said Dr. Donald Wong submitted claims for about $2.3 million in services to Medicare patients between 1987 and 1989, for which he was paid $1.4 million. Wong, 60, practiced in Chinatown and lived in the posh suburb of Hillsborough, but has since moved to Houston, investigators said.