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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Millions in possible insurance kickbacks probed
Wednesday June 18, 2003
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO (AP) California and Nevada officials raided
lawyers' homes and offices Wednesday, searching for evidence to
back their suspicion the attorneys took more than $2 million worth
of insurance claim kickbacks.
They executed 10 search warrants Wednesday in Sacramento, Las
Vegas and Los Angeles County targeting lawyers they suspect took
the kickbacks for their referrals of clients with workers'
compensation and auto insurance medical claims.
No arrest warrants have been issued. The material seized
Wednesday will be considered by the Sacramento County district
attorney's office as it considers bringing charges in the case,
officials said.
Wednesday's searches grew out of eight searches conducted Jan.
15 in the Sacramento area of three Baldini & DePaoli Chiropractic
clinics, three homes, and two storage facilities all affiliated
with the clinics. The California Department of Insurance alleges
the clinics overbilled insurance companies for treatments never
received by patients.
An office manager said neither chiropractor was available to
comment. Messages left for the chiropractors were not returned
Wednesday.
Acting on a tip, the department had an undercover investigator
hired as a clerk at the chiropractic firm. The agent found patients
would sign in, but then work out at a gymnasium next door without
being treated, the department alleged. It said a number of patients
had multiple accounts which were billed to different insurance
companies for the same treatment on the same day.
The department seized about 2,700 patient files, X-rays,
computer equipment and file cabinets in January.
``We realized it was only the tip of the iceberg,'' said Kathy
Scholz, the department's fraud division bureau chief.
The records showed a pattern where attorneys in different
geographic areas would send clients to a chiropractor in their area
under contract, the department said. The chiropractor would bill
the patient's insurance company and a percentage of the receipts
were forwarded to a separate company the department said also was
involved in the alleged scheme.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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