Anthony Hao Dinh, DO, an ENT based in Newport Beach, Calif., was charged with 18 counts for his role in defrauding a federal COVID-19 program for uninsured patients of more than $153 million.
The indictment alleges that from July 2020 to March 2021, Dr. Dinh, 64, submitted more than $250 million in claims to the Health Resources and Services Administration COVID-19 Uninsured Program, which was designed to reimburse healthcare providers who rendered services to uninsured patients during the pandemic, according to a Sept. 28 news release from the Justice Department.
Dr. Dinh ultimately received approximately $150 million in payments for patients who were insured, services not covered under the program, not provided or not medically necessary, according to the release. It is the largest known fraud scheme targeting the HRSA program.
Dr. Dinh was initially charged and arrested in April and released on $5 million bond, according to the release. The most recent indictment expands the case by increasing the total amount of fraudulent claims submitted to the HRSA, adding money laundering and obstruction of justice charges and further allegations of other schemes to defraud pandemic relief programs.