4 Accused of Insurance Fraud in O.C.
Firing the first federal salvo in a “nationwide initiative” against what investigators describe as a Southern California-based medical insurance racket, a grand jury Wednesday indicted an Orange County surgery center on charges of defrauding health insurers of $34 million by bribing patients to undergo unnecessary procedures.
Named in the indictment are Perry Pham, 41, of Mission Viejo, owner of Millennium Outpatient Surgery Center of Santa Ana, and employees Olga Lilia Toscano, 37, of Irvine; Maria Licea Rosales, 37, of Santa Ana; and Esmeralda Ortiz Tello, 32, of Anaheim.
The indictment says Millennium recruited patients from throughout the country. In exchange for feigning symptoms and undergoing diagnostic procedures, the indictment says, the patients were flown to California, given discounts on cosmetic surgery or paid cash. The center then billed their insurance companies.
Those indicted in the Millennium case have been charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and, in one case, perjury.
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