Newport man pleads guilty in $600-million medical fraud case
A Newport Beach man has admitted to participating in a massive fraud case in which doctors received hundreds of millions of dollars in payments in exchange for surgical referrals, federal authorities said.
Michael R. Drobot, 44, pleaded guilty March 4 to allegations of conspiracy and illegal kickbacks, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said Friday. Records of Drobot’s case were only recently unsealed, prosecutors said.
Drobot is one of nine defendants who have admitted participating in the long-running scheme, according to authorities. He faces up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for Nov. 18.
Authorities say dozens of doctors and chiropractors were illegally paid to send patients to Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, resulting in $600 million in fraudulent billings in eight years.
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Most of the money was paid out in workers’ compensation insurance, according to authorities.
Drobot’s father, Michael D. Drobot, was the owner and chief executive of Pacific Hospital until 2013, according to court documents.
The elder Drobot, a Corona del Mar resident, pleaded guilty in the scheme in April 2014. He has yet to be sentenced.
Federal authorities last week also announced guilty pleas from two other conspirators.
Michael Barri, 48, a chiropractor from San Clemente, and Linda Martin, 66, a Clovis resident who worked in marketing at Pacific Hospital, face up to five years in prison.
The Drobots and other defendants have agreed to cooperate with authorities who are still investigating and pursuing corruption charges against former state Sen. Ron Calderon, who is accused of accepting bribes from the elder Drobot, according to prosecutors.
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Jeremiah Dobruck, jeremiah.dobruck2@latimes.com
Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck
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