Newport Coast chiropractor accused of workers’ compensation insurance fraud pleads not guilty
A Newport Coast chiropractor pleaded not guilty Friday to felony charges related to allegations of a workers’ compensation insurance fraud scheme targeting Spanish-speaking communities, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.
Afsoun Naderi, 50, was one of five people, including four chiropractors, charged Wednesday with multiple felony counts of insurance fraud with white-collar-crime enhancements.
Naderi, a Newport Coast resident, works at a practice in Long Beach, according to online listings.
She faces 10 felony charges, including eight counts of fraudulent insurance benefit claims carrying white-collar-crime enhancements for being an amount between $100,000 and $500,000. She also faces two felony counts related to allegations of payments for patient referrals.
She received payments totaling $445,246 of the $1.95 million she billed to insurance for services rendered as a result of unlawful referrals, according to Deputy District Attorney Noor Hasan.
Naderi is scheduled back in court Feb. 1.
The alleged crimes occurred between August 2013 and January 2015, according to court records.
The other defendants are Fermin Alexander Iglesias, 38, of Glendale and chiropractors Bahar Danesh Gharib, 42, of Woodland Hills, Bryan Aun, 45, of Brea and John Larson, 45, of Rancho Cucamonga, the district attorney’s office said.
In a related case filed in June 2017, 16 people were charged, including 10 attorneys, the largest number of lawyers charged in one case in Orange County history, the district attorney’s office said.
Three of the defendants charged in 2017 have pleaded guilty to felonies and are awaiting sentencing.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
