Newport Beach, Malibu doctors billed for procedures they never performed, prosecutors allege
Prosecutors on Monday accused a Newport Beach physician and three others as defendants in a $17-million workers' compensation insurance fraud.
The Orange County district attorney's office and the California Department of Insurance released a grand jury transcript and a 181-page indictment listing 884 charges against Dr. Sim Carlisle Hoffman, 59, a radiologist from Newport Beach, according to the Daily Pilot. Also charged were Dr. Thomas Michael Heric, 74, of Malibu; Louis Umberto Santillan, 44, of Chino Hills; and Beverly Jane Mitchell, 60, of Westlake Village.
They and Hoffman are accused of billing insurance companies for more expensive and unnecessary procedures that were sometimes never performed.
"It is no secret that these types of fraud are resulting in higher insurance rates and hemorrhaging California businesses," Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said. "We need to end these types of medical fraud mills... Let's end unethical doctors, unscrupulous dealings and patients being treated like walking ATMs."
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--Britney Barnes, Times Community News
Photo: Tony Rackauckas. Credit Los Angeles Times
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