Robert Eyzaguirre, MD, the owner and sole physician of a medical clinic in Bellflower, Calif., pleaded guilty to submitting false claims to a Medi-Cal program.
Dr. Eyzaguirre admitted to submitting millions of dollars in false claims to the program, leading to more than $2.5 million in losses to the state healthcare program, according to a May 7 news release from the Justice Department.
From December 2013 through January 2020, Dr. Eyzaguirre and two employees submitted more than $4.6 million in fraudulent claims to the Family PACT program for reimbursement.
An employee created fake patient files including fake vitals and patient notes, which were then signed by Dr. Eyzaguirre and submitted to the program. Medi-Cal paid more than $2.5 million on the fraudulent claims.
The two employees also referred the names of the fake patients to a laboratory in California, which paid more than $372,000 in illegal kickbacks. Medi-Cal paid more than $1 million on fraudulent claims submitted by the laboratory.
When Dr. Eyzaguirre learned law enforcement was investigating the scheme, he attempted to conceal the activity by instructing an employee to hide the files offsite.
Dr. Eyzaguirre pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, the release said.