Man Admits Huge Medi-Cal Fraud : Crime: Owner of a Valencia pharmaceutical firm pleads guilty to submitting $7.2 million in phony billings. It is one of largest such cases in agency’s history.

The owner of a Valencia pharmaceutical supply company has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medi-Cal out of $7.2 million through phony billings, one of the largest such cases in the agency’s history, the state attorney general’s office said Friday.

Roy Pacia, 51, owner and president of Bruce Pharmacal Inc., entered the plea Thursday before Municipal Judge Candace Beason to two felony counts of defrauding the state’s Medi-Cal program, said Deputy Atty. Gen. Henry Torres Jr.

Under the agreement, Pacia will serve 44 months in prison, pay $5 million in restitution to the state and cooperate with state investigators in further investigations of Medi-Cal fraud, Torres said.

Pacia, one of five figures charged in the case, masterminded a three-year scheme under which the company defrauded the state through overbilling, billing the state for products not prescribed by physicians and charging Medi-Cal for products not covered by the state health program, Torres said.

Bruce Pharmacal submitted groundless claims for supplies supposedly delivered to elderly and disabled Medi-Cal beneficiaries, he said. Nearly all the billings involved diapers supposedly supplied to elderly Medi-Cal patients and others suffering from incontinence.

The company induced Medi-Cal recipients in South-Central and East Los Angeles to turn over state-supplied stickers--which providers of medical services can exchange for payment from Medi-Cal--in return for cheap promotional gifts, Torres said.

After he was indicted in December, Pacia fled to his native Philippines. He returned voluntarily May 16 and since then has cooperated with investigators, Torres said.

In his absence, the FBI seized $1.7 million worth of his personal and business assets, including the company’s office and Pacia’s three houses. The federal government is involved because Washington helps fund the Medi-Cal program.

“Part of the plea agreement is that he must help us find out where all the money went,” Torres said. “He’ll sign over all of his assets and the assets of Bruce Pharmacal.”

The company has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the federal code, which could complicate the restitution payment.

“Whether or not we’re going to collect the full $5 million is unclear,” Torres said. “It could ultimately be determined by a bankruptcy judge.”

Macario Tiu Sr. of Valencia, Eliseo Sur of Granada Hills, Carol Dunbar of Newhall and Elisa Cabuntala of Los Angeles also were charged with taking part in the alleged fraud while they worked at Bruce Pharmacal.

Tiu, a vice president of the company, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving unlawful remuneration for Medi-Cal stickers and was sentenced Thursday to serve 81 days in county jail and to pay as much as $15,000 in restitution.

Tiu illegally collected thousands of Medi-Cal stickers in South-Central and East Los Angeles, Torres said, and was paid about $10 to $15 per sticker by Bruce Pharmacal.

“He collected more than Bruce Pharmacal could process--there was a backlog,” Torres said. The company would then turn around and bill the state for about $75 to $100 per sticker.

“They were trying for quantity as opposed to maximizing profit per sticker,” he said.