Arrests Made in “Rent a Patient” Case
Orange County Surgery Center Owners Charged with Paying Thousands of Healthy Patients to Undergo Unnecessary Surgeries and Bilking Millions By Fraud A two-year investigation by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the California Department of Insurance (CDI) and the Franchise Tax Board has led to the filing of charges against Unity Outpatient Surgery Center in Buena Park today. On June 21, 2004, Unity Outpatient Surgery Center owners Tam Vu Pham, 39, and his wife Hoang Ngo, 38, of Fullerton, along with Lan Nguyen, 48, of Huntington Beach, were charged with 46 felony counts of conspiracy, grand theft, insurance fraud, capping, and tax evasion. They were accused of recruiting thousands of healthy patients from all over the country to have unnecessary surgeries …
Continue Reading >Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans File $30 Million Lawsuit Alleging “Rent a Patient” Fraud in Southern California
Summary by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association On March 10, 2005, 12 Blue Plans (representing 15 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies) filed a major civil fraud lawsuit against nine Southern California surgery clinics, the owners of those clinics, surgeons and others, alleging their involvement in what the California Insurance Commissioner has described as “one of the most egregious, outrageous insurance frauds” in history. The fraud targeted in the lawsuit, which is also the subject of State and Federal criminal prosecutions, has caused tens of millions of dollars of losses to insurance companies and employee benefit plans since 1999. The Plaintiffs in the lawsuit (the “Blue Cross Plaintiffs”) are: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Blue Cross …
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