Dr Anthony Hao Dinh is accused of defrauding the federal government of $150 million and losing most of it by placing high-risk bets on the stock market.
Dinh, an otolaryngologist practicing in Orange County, California, allegedly amassed $150 million after submitting $230 million in fraudulent claims to the Uninsured Program COVID-19 by the Health Resources and Services Administration, according to the Department of Justice.
According to federal authorities, Dinh is the second-highest biller in the federal program to provide care to uninsured consumers during the pandemic. He also faces charges that he allegedly received more than $3 million in loans after submitting more than 70 fraudulent applications under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Disaster Loan Program.
Dinh did not respond to a request for comment. If convicted, he could serve up to 50 years in federal prison.
According to a lawsuit filed by the federal government in the Central District Court of California on April 10, Dinh allegedly transferred the proceeds to a bank account held by shell companies he owned. and transfer them to a personal bank account. He engaged in high-risk options trading and subsequently lost more than $100 million between November 2020 and February 2022, the lawsuit alleges.
Law enforcement interviewed 40 of Dinh’s patients, most of whom were covered by insurance, and said they did not receive medical services, including surgeries, that Dinh charged for the program. covered by HRSA.
One patient, a soldier in the National Guard, brought about 60 soldiers to an Elite Care clinic in Newport Beach, California, where Dinh works, for a free COVID-19 test. They “thought it was strange that no one asked uniformed soldiers if they had insurance,” the lawsuit alleges. That patient was tested for COVID-19 but told investigators he did not receive any services billed to the uninsured plan, including endoscopic biopsies and controls Complicated nosebleeds, the complaint alleges.
Elite Care is not named as a defendant in the case.
Dinh is part of the federal government’s latest COVID-19 fraud investigation in which criminal charges have been filed against 18 defendants accused of illegally billed $490 million. for federally funded pandemic programs. Some are new cases and some are replacement indictments. Officials filed similar COVID-19 fraud allegations in April 2022 and May 2021.
“Today’s announcement marks the largest-ever coordinated law enforcement action in the United States targeting healthcare fraud schemes that exploit the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Assistant General Manager. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. said in a press release.
Investigators have also filed charges against a Southern California lab operator. Lourdes Navarro, who helped manage clinical labs in the Glendale area of California, allegedly added a request for respiratory pathogen testing to nursing home residents even though they were not required or necessary, according to an alternative indictment filed April 13 in California Central District Court.
Navarro, who was previously indicted in April 2022, faces additional charges related to a $358 million fraudulent claim billed to Medicare, the Persons Without Persons Program HRSA COVID-19 insurance and an unnamed insurance company allegedly received kickbacks and bribes.
Navarro did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors have also filed lawsuits against suppliers in Florida, Louisiana, New York, Utah and Puerto Rico. Charges ranged from allegedly billing a program to provide COVID-19 tests to deceased consumers to creating fake vaccination cards.
