Doctor Convicted of Insurance Fraud

A Garden Grove physician Friday was convicted of insurance fraud for writing up phony diagnoses and billing insurance companies for bogus services, the district attorney said.

Danh Cong Truong, who owned and operated the Brookhurst Medical Clinic in the 14400 block of Brookhurst, was also convicted by an Orange County Superior Court jury of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, according to prosecutors. The charges stemmed from an undercover investigation conducted from October 1991 to July 1992 by the district attorney’s office and the state Department of Insurance.

Three undercover agents posing as car accident victims went to Truong, who falsely diagnosed them as suffering from injuries consistent with such an accident, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Lubinski said. The doctor then billed insurance companies for more than $9,000 in services that were never provided.

Those included tests that were never conducted and physical therapy services that were never rendered, Lubinski said.

Prosecutors said Truong sent the billings to attorney Timothy Elliot, a suspected conspirator in the case. Elliot has fled the country and is wanted on a $1-million arrest warrant, Lubinski said.

After the bills were submitted, Elliot allegedly demanded payment from the insurance companies, plus pain and suffering alleged to have been suffered by the undercover investigators, Lubinski said. His demand amounted to $57,000, the prosecutor said.