Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Shredding Records

A Malibu lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges that he obstructed justice by overseeing the destruction of more than 600 pounds of medical records for a surgical center under investigation for insurance fraud.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Jack Weiss said two doctors at the West Olympic Surgery Center have already pleaded guilty to billing insurance companies for what they said were medically necessary procedures, even though the surgeries--primarily liposuction and nose jobs--were cosmetic and elective.

Weiss said Gustavo Zarate, who at the time was a student at Loyola Law School, has admitted directing the shredding of thousands of the center’s surgery checklists, which often indicated the surgery actually performed and the surgery billed to the insurance companies.

Zarate, 30, was employed at the time as an administrative assistant at the center. He later finished his studies, passed the California bar exam and began practicing law.

Zarate is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 25. Legal sources said he faces a sentence of up to about one year in jail.

The two doctors, Ronald W. Strahan of Brentwood and Alvin Reiter of Beverly Hills, will be sentenced Sept. 13. An associate, 49-year-old Luis Sandoval, who pleaded guilty to recruiting patients and coaching them on what to tell insurance companies, will also be sentenced Sept. 13.