Lawyers Plead Guilty in Fraud Ring
Two attorneys pleaded guilty in connection with a Southern California insurance fraud ring that allegedly staged vehicle collisions and filed false insurance company claims, according to state officials.
Curtis Mitchell Shaw, 61, of Beverly Hills, Calif., and Keith Darran Washington, 41, of Reseda, Calif., were among 18 people charged in 2003 in connection with “Operation Rent & Wreck.” Most of the other defendants in the case that already have entered pleas are serving time or awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutors say between 1993 and 2000, Shaw and Washington’s law office served as a clearinghouse for the staged collisions, netting nearly $2.5 million.
Shaw, who has resigned from the state Bar of California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, three counts of filing false insurance claims and charges of filing false tax returns between 1998 and 2000. He faces up to three years in state prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 18 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Deputy District Attorney Loren Naiman said. Shaw also will be ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution.
Washington, who continues to practice law, pleaded guilty to one count of filing fraudulent claims with insurers. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 15 and faces up to a year in county jail. He will be ordered to pay $364,300 in restitution.
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Calif. Chiropractors Nabbed in Scam
An El Dorado County, Calif., chiropractor and three Central Valley, Calif., chiropractors have been arrested on multiple felony counts, including insurance fraud. Richard Guadalupe Saucedo, 62, of Turlock, and Pedram Vaezi, 33, of Modesto, were charged with filing false insurance claims and practicing medicine without certification, which is a state felony. Joseph R. Ambrose, 43, of El Dorado Hills, and Michael Hall Yates, 48, of Stockton, were charged with multiple felony counts, including practicing medicine without certification, conspiracy to commit a crime, grand theft, workers’ compensation insurance fraud, unlawful rebates and filing false insurance claims.
Investigators allege that Yates and Ambrose were two of six co-owners of the Sierra Hills Surgery and Medical Center, an outpatient surgery center in Sacramento, Calif. An investigation revealed the suspects were directing and performing a surgical procedure known as Manipulation under Anesthesia (MUA). Chiropractors are prohibited from performing and/or participating in medical-surgical procedures.
Saucedo and Vaezi were assistant surgeons to Ambrose. Saucedo, Vaezi, and Ambrose were also employees of Modesto, Calif.-based Med-1 Medical Center, the focus of an ongoing San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office/ California Department of Insurance joint investigation.
The owner of Med-1 Medical Center, Wilmer Origel, D.C., was an owner of Sierra Hills Surgery and Medical Center. Origel was additionally the owner of a billing company, Unique Health Care Management, which, during the time in question, performed billing for Sierra Hills Surgery and Medical Center.
Origel, his administrator Robin Barney, and financial officer Rebecca Benedict, were arrested by CDI Criminal Investigators in January 2005 for allegations of fraudulent billing and other criminal charges.