Orange County Doctor Indicted in Quarter Billion Dollar Fraud Targeting Pandemic Program for Uninsur
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
Orange County Doctor of Osteopathy Indicted in Quarter Billion Dollar Fraud Targeting Pandemic Program for Uninsured Patients
Thursday, September 28, 2023
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury has charged a doctor who operated clinics in Westminster and Garden Grove with defrauding a COVID-19 program for uninsured patients by submitting more than a quarter billion dollars in claims – ultimately receiving about $150 million in payments – for services not covered under the program or simply not provided, the Justice Department announced today.
Anthony Hao Dinh, 64, of Newport Coast – a licensed doctor of osteopathy who was an ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as a facial plastic surgeon – was charged Wednesday in an 18-count indictment with defrauding the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) COVID-19 Uninsured Program.
Dinh was initially charged in this case in a criminal complaint filed April 10. Today’s indictment significantly expands the case by increasing the total amount of fraudulent claims allegedly submitted to HRSA, adding money laundering charges and further allegations about other schemes to defraud pandemic relief programs, and charging Dinh with obstructing the government’s investigation into improper health care billing.
The indictment charges Dinh with 12 counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering (with two of those charges alleging the transfer of more than $11 million to personal stock trading accounts) and one count of obstructing justice. Dinh, who is free on a $7 million bond, is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on October 30 in United States District Court in Santa Ana.
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In relation to the fraud against HRSA, over the course of about nine months – from July 2020 to March 2021 – Dinh allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for the treatment of patients who were insured, services that were not rendered, and services that were not medically necessary. “As a result of these false and fraudulent claims, HRSA made payments to defendant Dinh, through [his medical] practices, in the approximate amount of $150 million.”
The Uninsured Program was designed to prevent the further spread of the pandemic by providing access to uninsured patients for testing and treatment. The Uninsured Program was also designed to provide financial support to health care providers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by reimbursing them for services provided to uninsured individuals.
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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-doctor-osteopathy-indicted-quarter-billion-dollar-fraud-targeting
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