U.S. Investigates Tustin Doctor in Sex Case

Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation of Ivan C. Namihas, the Tustin gynecologist who was not prosecuted by the state in connection with more than 100 sexual abuse complaints by his patients.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Santa Ana is exploring the possibility that Namihas ran afoul of federal mail fraud statutes when he sent medical bills to the patients he has been accused of sexually molesting, according to those familiar with the investigation.

Federal officials would not comment about the investigation but have outlined the novel strategy in numerous contacts with private attorneys and state and local prosecutors.

Federal statutes make it illegal for anyone to obtain money through the mail with “false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises.”

Law enforcement sources familiar with the inquiry said federal authorities will focus on medical bills Namihas sent to patients and will apply federal statutes that prohibit frauds and swindles.

If a federal case against Namihas is pursued, prosecutors are expected to argue that Namihas billed for professional medical services in instances where he sexually abused women.

Conviction on each felony charge, which is subject to a five-year statute of limitations, is punishable by a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Orange County district attorney’s office and the state attorney general decided against pressing sexual abuse charges against Namihas because many of the alleged abuses date to the late 1970s and early 1980s and cannot be prosecuted because of a one-year statute of limitations on such crimes. However, some of the women said the abuses continued into 1990 and 1991.

Moreover, state and local prosecutors found that some victims were unwilling to testify against Namihas and that their case had been weakened because most of the alleged victims did not lodge formal complaints at the time of the incidents.

Namihas, 60, who has complained that he was indicted and convicted by the news media before he could defend himself, could not be reached for comment but has denied wrongdoing. Timothy Cory, the Las Vegas attorney who filed Namihas’ recent bankruptcy petition, did not return calls.

The former gynecologist was accused by the Medical Board of California of sexually abusing 69 patients over the past decade. He lost his license to practice medicine 14 months ago, after the board conducted a half-hour administrative hearing that the gynecologist did not attend.

Scores of other patients later called the medical board with complaints about instances in which the doctor had kissed, fondled or otherwise sexually abused them during pelvic examinations.