Pasadena doctor pleads guilty in workers’ comp fraud case allegedly involving OC judge
By PAUL ANDERSON
A doctor for a Rancho Cucamonga-based company with ties to a former Orange County prosecutor who is now a state judge pleaded guilty Friday to his part in a workers’ compensation fraud scheme.
Dr. Kevin Tien Do, 59, of Pasadena, pleaded guilty to single counts each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. U.S. District Judge John Holcomb set July 11 for sentencing.
Do, who worked with Liberty Medical Group Inc., conspired with a former Orange County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor who is now an Orange County Superior Court judge, federal prosecutors alleged in court papers.
The alleged co-conspirator was not named, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Israel Claustro has ties to Liberty Medical Group, according to psychologist Nhung Phan, who sued Liberty Medical Group in October for about $100,000 in unpaid bills she prepared for workers’ compensation claims.
Phan told City News Service that when she alerted the medical group she was not paid for 84 reports she prepared for the company from Aug. 2, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2017, Claustro initially said in an email that the bills were paid, but someone would have to go through storage to double check. When she followed up, the emails were marked as undeliverable.
“They never gave me information on it,” Phan said. “He kept saying they had to search through storage.”
Claustro’s attorney, Paul Meyer, told City News Service, “It is premature to comment.”
Kostas Kalaitzidis, a spokesman for Orange County Superior Court, said last month, “The court cannot discuss any case pending before any court, as ethical rules prohibit any such discussion.”
Do said the co-conspirator was the actual owner of the company even though it is not legal for someone who is not a doctor to own such a business. And he also admitted Friday in his plea that even after he was informed he could not work for the company due to his prior conviction, he kept drafting reports with the names of the doctors placed on them.
“I was paid $306,111 for work I should not have done,” Do said.
Do also admitted he failed to report $66,227 in income on his 2021 income tax return. That was the income he received that was paid to an entity he controlled rather than in his name to cover up the fraud, prosecutors said.
A nine-page document filed under seal Dec. 27 was referenced during the hearing, but the details were not discussed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Pell declined comment on the case after the hearing.
Do was previously convicted in August 2003 for aiding and abetting health care fraud, according to the Medical Board of California. Do was sentenced to a year in federal prison in October 2003 and ordered to pay $366,031.24 in restitution, according to the medical board.
Do participated in a scheme to defraud Medi-Cal from April 1997 through the end of 1998, according to the medical board.
In his current case, Do admitted in his plea deal that from October 2018 through February of last year, he participated in a scheme to defraud the state out of millions of dollars in health care funds through workers’ compensation, prosecutors said.
Do drafted workers’ compensation-related medical reports that he would then bill to the state’s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund, prosecutors said. Do was suspended from the state’s workers’ compensation program due to his 2003 conviction, but he continued working on the program, prosecutors said.
Do fraudulently listed other doctors’ names on billing forms and medical reports because he could not do so, prosecutors said. Do admitted in the plea agreement that Liberty received more than $3 million by the state for the reports after his 2018 suspension, prosecutors said.
Do said in his plea agreement that the real owner of Liberty Medical Group is the sitting judge.
According to the plea agreement, about $1.5 million went to the company’s owner and his wife.
Pell said during Friday’s hearing that Do told the co-conspirator that he was suspended from handling workers’ compensation claims and that they “came up with a plan” to work around it. That plan included using the names of other doctors on the reports and for Do to stop seeing patients but continue to work on drafting the reports, Pell said.
A new doctor from Rancho Cucamonga was listed as the owner when the judge was the actual owner, Pell said.