Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

On this blog, we talk a lot about why doctors, chiropractors, dentists, and others commit Los Angeles Medicare fraud. What drives them, psychologically, socially, and societally?

We also talk about what these defendants should do, how to grapple with the situation, etc. But let's take time to change perspective and consider the role of family members. If you are the spouse or child of someone charged with any Southern California white crime, such as credit card fraud, insurance fraud, identity theft, etc., you may feel mixed emotions about what's going on.

• On the one hand, perhaps you are shocked by the news of the arrest or investigation – you had no idea.
• Perhaps you knew that something “fishy” was going on, so you are not surprised, but you’re deeply disappointed and scared.
• Perhaps you played a small, non-negligible role in the fraud, and you are scared about what might happen to you.
• In any case, you are worried about the ultimate consequences, not only for your loved ones, but also for your life, future, financers, and reputation.

So what's the solution in this drama? How do you go about reconstructing your life, getting at the truth, and dealing with a cascade of revelations?

According to productivity guru David Allen, it’s never a bad idea to begin recalibrating by assessing “what's true now” in your world. Rather than spend time ruminating about what life was like before the Los Angeles Medicare fraud charges, spend some time identifying what's true in your world. What are all the things that are pulling on your attention? Once you have those categorized, you can then process, organize, and review them per Allen’s methodology.

Getting clarity about what's true is an essential first step. The next step is to gain clarity on where you would like to go. What you would like to be true, given your currently reality?

It’s best to find resources and mentors to help you through this process. An experienced Southern California Medicare fraud attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group, can help you make sense of the chaos in your life and steer you in a positive direction.

Most people who go to jail for crimes like Los Angeles Medicare or Medi-Cal fraud do not spend weeks or months ruminating over whether to skirt the law and ultimately decisively concluding to “lead a life of crime.”

That may be the way events play out on TV. But, in reality, the temptation to commit any Southern California white collar crime, like Los Angeles credit card fraud, insurance fraud in Los Angeles, etc is slowly and incrementally hatched.

In other words, there is no "a-ha!" moment – no epiphany where a doctor, chiropractor, dentist, or other professional makes an “evil villain” type speech and crosses over to the dark side.

Instead, what happens is that frustrated, angry, or opportunistic business people come to identify fraudulent activities as doable and acceptable, based on their circumstances. The human mind has an amazing ability to justify what it wants to justify. Thus, for instance, say you are a doctor who has spent years getting ripped off by unfair insurance practices and patients who skip out on bills. You may develop the belief that it’s right to “take something back” for yourself, and thus the seeds for Medicare or Medi-Cal fraud are planted in your mind.

You may develop this belief months, if not years, before you violate industry norms, but the belief sits there, eroding your good judgment and causing you stress.

The other thing to remember is that white collar crimes are often crimes of desperation. Or at least they start out that way. Perhaps you had a mortgage payment ballooning ever higher every month. Or maybe you have kids in school, and you need to pay for their education somehow. Or maybe you become aware of a gray market connection with a dubious pharmacy, or you read about some cunning scheme that another medical fraud artist pulled off in some other state.

The point is: what drove you to do what you did was almost certainly a real and understandable human need. Maybe you needed to protect your children, save your home, prop up the business that you grew and loved, enjoy the fruits of your labor. Whatever the fundamental need was, it was not necessarily a bad thing. The strategy that you may have employed might have been dangerous, stupid, illegal, etc. But avoid condemning the need that drove you to desperate measures.

Of course, platitudes aside, you need a specific, action-oriented plan to help you build a defense. Los Angeles Medicare fraud attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group can help you discover the most picture perfect legal plan based on what you’ve been charged with.

If you or someone you care about was recently arrested or investigated for a crime like Southern California Medicare/Medi-Cal fraud, your life has been topsy-turvy.

The penalties associated with your charges could include substantial jail time and forced reparations. You could also lose your dental, medical, or chiropractic license. On top of that, a seemingly endless array of ripple effects could haunt you: e.g. loss of your professional reputation, loss of respect from your family members and peers, financial problems, etc.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about being tagged for Los Angeles Medicare fraud (or Southern California credit card fraud, Los Angeles insurance fraud, or other so-called white-collar crimes) is the self-recrimination that often follows.

When most people read stories about Medicare fraud, they immediately jump to conclusions. A suspect may be deemed a “reprehensible person” or someone who “just doesn’t care” about sick people. If you are a defendant, you’d like to be seen in a more compassionate light, even if what you did, in retrospect, was not aligned with your fundamental values.

Because of this dissonance – you did something that violated your own values and principles – you may feel tremendous guilt on top of everything else. This pain can be uncomfortable and chronic, and may challenge you long after the fact.

Remedy the situation. First of all, become aware of your feelings about what happened. If you repress your feelings and thoughts about the event – the alleged crime, the arrest, everything that followed – you will never be able to learn from it and grow, and you may even compromise your ability to build a solid defense.

As any respected Southern California Medicare fraud attorney will tell you, the first step in any kind of legal defense is to assess reality. It’s less important to assess blame, guilt, wrongness, etc. It’s far more useful to discuss what happened; what motivated you to do it; why you became involved in the first place; and why you didn’t stop even after seeing warning signs.

Only with these answers can you begin to construct the most appropriate response to your legal situation. Connect with the team at the Kraut Law Group. Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut is an experienced former prosecutor who has the track record, compassion, strategic vision, and connections to help people charged with a complicated white-collar crime, like Medicare fraud.

According to a October 28th report in Los Angeles Times, 17 people, including a pharmacist and physician, have been accused of Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud for participating in a sophisticated psychiatric drug recycling ring that bilked benefits programs out of millions of dollars and compelled the government to pay multiple times for the same stolen pills.

Apparently, so-called “runners” in the ring would obtain Medicare beneficiary cards illegally, either by buying them outright from Medicare and Medi-Cal recipients or by stealing them. Then they would use these cards to obtain prescriptions for expensive antipsychotic agents, like Zyprexa and Seroquel. According to q criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles last Thursday, the scam was sophisticated, intertwined, and quite organized.

After the runners filled the prescriptions and billed for them, they would then funnel the drugs back to the pharmacies that provided the drugs in the first place. Those pharmacies would then repackage, re-label and dispense the drugs, often to ring members using stolen Medicare cards.

17 defendants have been accused of bilking Medicaid and Medi-Cal of $7.3 million. (Medicare officials suggest that the loss to the program may significantly exceed the $7.3 million figure.) A Deputy Administrator for the Medicare program, Peter Budnetti, told the Los Angeles Times; "this is organized. The allegations… speak to much broader kind of activities that sweeps a lot of people into it.”

Regular readers of this Los Angeles white collar crime blog might recognize that this story in many ways “rhymes” with other stories that we’ve covered about Los Angeles Medicare fraud, Los Angeles identity theft, and Southern California credit card fraud.

Why are the same kinds of cases iterating themselves? What's driving the trend?

Perhaps the structure of the Medicare program itself is to blame. Some policy analysts blame the complicated and loophole filed Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit portion of the Medicare program for creating “low hanging fruit” for fraudsters and scam artists.

In any event, if you or someone you care about has been arrested on similar Medicare or Medi-Cal fraud charges, the team at the Kraut Law Group can help. Michael Kraut is an experienced former prosecutor who has a Harvard Law School education and close connections with local prosecutors. He has the wherewithal, resources, and sophisticated understanding of the prosecutorial system to get you positive results.

Last Thursday, 14 people were indicted on federal charges of Los Angeles Medicare fraud, after billing Medical and Medicare for over $6 million in medical services that were either never performed or completely unnecessary.

The five-count indictment is against Lake Medical Group (based here in LA). The scam artists allegedly bilked insurance companies out of over $2.7 million in Oxycontin-related sub-scam. According to a Thursday report in the San Francisco Chronicle, so far 10 people have either surrendered or been placed under arrest. Pharmacist Theodore Yoon, as well as two doctors – Dr. Morris Halfon and Dr. Eleanor Santiago – were among those who allegedly conceived of and perpetuated this Los Angeles Medicare scam.

Here are the gory details, courtesy the San Francisco Chronicle article: "Investigators said the scam between August 2008 and February 2010 involved the clinic using recruiters known as “cappers” who brought in Medicare and Medical patients who were often issued a prescription for Oxycontin. They were offered up to $500 to get the prescriptions filled… Runners took the patients to pharmacies, including some run by Yoon… the clinic’s administrator was given the pills that were then sold on the street for roughly $25 a piece [the pills usually sell for around $6 each].”

In 2009, members of the scam sold 2,000 Oxycontin pills to a confidential informant. Prosecutors alleged that approximately 900,000 Oxycontin pills might have been diverted into the scam.

Here is another interesting line from the article: “The clinic and some of its staff also are accused of generating prescriptions for people whose identities were stolen and never made a visit.” The so-called “runners” were vital conduits for getting the Oxycontin into the black market.

Obviously, there are multiple aspects of the story that are viscerally disturbing. Our state faces a fiscal crisis, our entitlement systems could be charitably described as “in tatters” and we have more than enough people already addicted to painkillers and other narcotics.

All that said, it’s important not to rush to judgment here.

If you've recently been charged with a Southern California white collar crime, like Los Angeles credit card fraud or Pasadena insurance fraud, you deserve a fair, comprehensive, and strategic defense. Moreover, even if you did participate in a scheme or conspiracy, the actions you take from this point forward can profoundly affect not only your potential sentencing but also your ability to practice medicine and your professional reputation.

In other words, even if the charges you face are extremely serious – and jail time seems inevitable at this point – don’t abandon hope. Los Angeles’ Kraut Law Group can provide a systematic, clear, and compassionate assessment of your defensive resources and help you identify precisely what you need to do (and perhaps more importantly, what you should NOT do) to pick up the pieces of your life and put them back together again.

The Obama administration and California state officials are passionately bent on stamping out Southern California Medicare/Medical fraud, and their quest makes a good deal of sense.

Our national and state coffers are challenged by a sluggish economy that shows no signs of long-term stabilization, and the California state budget debacles have made the Golden State something of a laughing stock.

Stories in the news about doctors, dentists, chiropractors, and other health care providers perpetrating schemes to defraud public programs out of much-needed funds have awakened righteous ire, not only in public officials but also in the public at large. The search for justice is understandable, at least from a psychological perspective, but the passion can be dangerous.

As our public officials attempt to destroy Southern California Medicare fraud and punish perpetrators, they might arrest innocent people, hold certain people responsible who really shouldn’t be, and do a lot of posturing without making any real progress on the root causes of our fiscal or Medicare program problems.

Pundits, analysts, and news commentators might do well to step back and spend less time thinking about the right solution to Southern California healthcare fraud, insurance fraud, credit card fraud, and identity theft fraud and instead attend to the bigger picture:

What drives people to commit these crimes? Why now? Why here? Why under XYZ circumstances?

Crimes are never motivated arbitrarily. There are always root drivers. And until we can figure those out – perform a collective brainstorming session – our solutions for Medicare fraud are going to fall short of the mark, sweep up innocents into the dragnet, and lead to outrageous and ultimately ineffectual punishments that might make prosecutors feel good but ultimately won’t relieve the burden on the public.

Having said all that, it’s a huge challenge to identify these root drivers.

For instance, officials are going after more people for Medicare fraud than they have in the past. More crimes are being committed. But why? Maybe the spike is just an artifact of how the problem is framed. More money is going into the medical system than ever -- perhaps this “bigger pot” is simply attracting more attention from criminals.

In other words, the root cause may not be that criminals have somehow gotten smarter or developed better schemes. Rather, maybe there is just more potential money to steal, so people who might have attempted different criminal schemes are becoming more attracted to Medicare schemes because of the bigger payoff.

This is obviously speculation. But it goes to show how complicated the underlying issues and causes are.

All theorizing aside, if you are a defendant or someone close to a defendant, you need actionable, practical advice about how to protect your rights and build the best defense. Los Angeles white collar criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut can answer your questions and help you feel more in control of your life and case.

Were you or a close family member or friend recently arrested and charged with Los Angeles healthcare fraud? If so, you are not alone.

According to recently released government statistics – thanks to the Obama administration’s efforts, federal healthcare fraud prosecutions spiked more than 85% in 2011 over 2010. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) statistics show that the federal government has prosecuted over 900 people so far this year for healthcare fraud. In all of fiscal year 2010, only 731 people were prosecuted across the U.S. The TRAC data suggest that prosecutions have spiked more than 70% from just half a decade ago.

A spokesman for the Justice Department, Alisa Finelli, confirmed the TRAC data analysis: “the trend certainly looks accurate and on track with our data.” Over the past 12 months, the Justice Department has brought out the heavy ammunition to nail executives, nurses, doctors, and other caregivers (e.g. chiropractors, dentists, etc.) for defrauding programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Here are some fraud arrest highlights from 2011:

• 111 people arrested after a Medicare fraud tax force found that they had fraudulently billed Medicare for over $225 million;
• The government paid $300 million to whistleblowers in 2010;
• In January, the FBI went after 533 people in Puerto Rico who worked with doctors to send bogus injury claims to an American family life insurance company – ultimately soaking the company for $7 million. (Courtesy USA Today article "Healthcare fraud prosecutions on pace to rise 85%," sourced August, 29, 2011).
• August 2010 bust of 73 members and coconspirators with the Armenian mafia, who allegedly bilked federal government programs out of over $163 million.

Southern California white-color crimes – be they Los Angeles insurance fraud, Burbank identity theft, Beverly Hills credit card fraud, you name it – carry extremely substantial penalties. Not only could you face many years in prison, forced remuneration, and punitive damages, but you could also face the destruction of your professional reputation, the suspension of your medical license, and long-term indirect catastrophes for your personal life and finances.

Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group provides aggressive, compassionate, and systematic defenses for Southern California white-collar criminal defendants. Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor who has tremendous experience and success defending people who have been charged with complex and serious white-collar crime charges.

Attorney Kraut actually served as a prosecutor for nearly 15 years, during which time he accumulated a deep understanding of how prosecutors work – and he can use this knowledge and his contacts to help you devise a sensible defense strategy.

Last Tuesday, a jury convicted Pastor Christopher Iruke in a multimillion dollar Los Angeles healthcare fraud case. Iruke, an employee, and Iruke’s wife were nailed on charges of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud for devising and carrying out a scam that bilked Medicare for $14 million.

A story last week in the Los Angeles Times painted a vivid picture of Iruke’s last moments before his arrest. As federal authorities zeroed in on his fraud ring, the pastor of a South LA storefront church started to “shove pages upon pages of incriminating evidence into a shredder until the machine overheated. He then stuffed papers into the toilet and tried flushing his problems away…the documents linked him to bogus prescriptions for power wheelchairs for which he billed the government about $6,000 a piece, prosecutors alleged.”

Prosecutors said that the pastor collected about $6.6 million in reimbursements from the false claims (out of $14.2 million in claims filed) and that “the money funded a lavish lifestyle, including several luxury cars, international travel, and about $0.5 million remodeling on his Baldwin Hills home.”

So this story has touched nerves on many levels. First of all, no one likes to read about these blatant cases of South California Medicare fraud, Los Angeles insurance fraud, Burbank identity theft, and the like. Even if you participated in a scam, you recognize that these crimes corrode our social contract.

We also expect clergy members to adhere to a higher moral standard. So when we read about pastors allegedly bilking Medicare out of millions of dollars to furnish their homes, buy fancy cars, and travel abroad, we get righteously riled up.

This kind of ire can be a double-edged sword. Especially if you’ve been falsely accused of a crime like Medicare fraud – or even if you did commit a crime – the fallout can be difficult to manage. People who once trusted you may now scorn you. You might even have trouble relating to friends and family members. The path to redemption (so to speak) may be complicated. But an experienced Los Angeles Medicare fraud defense attorney will help you figure out what to do. Connect with former prosecutor and Harvard Law School-educated lawyer Michael Kraut to get a free, systematic, and strategic evaluation of the possibilities for your defense.

Newsflash: the Southern California Medicare fraud crackdown is real.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, FBI, and other organizations are taking dead aim at fraud rings. They want to punish schemers and sending a warning to would-be white collar criminals in Los Angeles: consequences can be dire.

The latest shot across the bow comes out of Detroit. Last week, 26 people were indicted in US District Court. Allegedly, they bilked Medicare and Medicaid out of over $58 million in a fraudulent prescription scheme. The alleged mastermind, Babubhai “Bob” Patel, allegedly purchased a number of local Detroit pharmacies and then “set them up with store owners to conceal his stake in the enterprise.” Using this structure, Patel and his fellow coconspirators wrote bogus prescriptions and collected kickbacks. Patients were recruited to bribe individuals “to bill their insurance for medications and services that were either never provided or unnecessary.”

Although the scheme apparently started back in January 2006, in just the past 2.5 years alone, the Patel-owned pharmacies dispensed a massive amount of medication to patients – who may or may not have abused the drugs. The alleged totals boggle the mind:

• 0.25 million doses of Oxycodone
• 6 million doses of narcotics
• 4.6 million doses of Hydrocodone
• 1.5 million of Vicodin
• 1.5 million doses of Alprazolam (Xanax)
• 61,000 pints of codeine cough syrup

Many patients and recruiters allegedly were paid with narcotics for participating in the Medicare fraud scam. All told, 31 Michigan pharmacies were involved. The 34 count indictment garnered lots of local media coverage in Michigan. But it's not just a local issue. The crackdown should also serve as a warning to people who even flirt with the idea of committing Southern California credit card fraud, Los Angeles identity theft, or any other white collar crime.

Here is the reality: government-entitlement programs are starving for cash. Our collective fiscal panic has motivated the government to take harsh actions against would be wrongdoers. So whether you're a physician who accidentally got caught up in unsavory business without your full and conscious knowledge; or whether you purposefully got involved in gray or black market scheme, you need smart, compassionate guidance now.

Depending on the nature of your crime, the extent of the damages, the frustration you caused, your level of recalcitrance and willingness to pay back damages that you caused, you can face a veritable rainbow of punishments, such as jail time, loss of your license and reputation, fines and court costs, and more.

A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, such as Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group, can help you understand a more resourceful, strategic way to respond to what’s happened to you. Mr. Kraut is a former prosecutor (Harvard Law School educated) who’s dealt with extremely complex Southern California white collar crimes from both sides. He has the intuition, knowledge, wherewithal, and relationships to help you build the legal defense that you need to protect your rights, possibly salvage your practice, and move beyond the frustrating and possibly embarrassing charges.

Brace yourself for a slew of high profile Southern California medicare fraud arrests.

According to a July 10 article in Los Angeles Times, “Medicare Anti-fraud Detection System Launched,” federal officials have set up a powerful new predictive modeling system to identify Medicare fraud and punish syndicates and individuals who bill for false claims and engage in other types of fraud.

The LAT describes the computer predictive modeling system – which was honed in South Florida over a few years – as working “much like credit card systems that raise alerts about suspicious purchases – such as 20 pairs of shoes or unusually large sales – to help block criminals from using stolen cards or IDs.”

Peter Budetti, the Head of the Medicare’s anti-fraud initiative, noted that Medicare scams tend to get replicated across the country when they work. Budetti said “these problems migrate from one part of the country to others fairly quickly.” Federal officers have now set up strike forces in Los Angeles and other major cities to investigate criminal networks. And investigators have been hitting back – hard – against suspected “fraudsters” in places like Michigan, South Florida, and elsewhere.

If you or someone you care about has been hit with recent charges of Southern California insurance fraud, Los Angeles credit card fraud, or Southern California white collar crime, a competent Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can help you deal with the plethora of challenges that you and your family face. These go beyond simply confronting the scary charges against you – which can lead to many years of jail time.

Mr. Kraut is no stranger to Los Angeles criminal law. He spent 14 plus years as a Deputy District Attorney for L.A. (after receiving a Harvard Law School education) prior to “switching sides” and representing defendants. He has a superb jury trial record, excellent relationships with local prosecutors and others in the legal community, and a thorough knowledge of relevant law. He can help with even complex and sophisticated charges.

If you or someone you care about has recently been arrested or indicted for Southern California Medicare fraud, you have company.

As this blog regularly reports, government investigators are cracking down, big time, on entitlement fraud across the country. One of the biggest news stories on this front came out of Chicago last week: 43-year-old Jacinto Gabriel, Jr. was indicted in connection with a $20 million scam to defraud Medicare. Gabriel, Jr. owned a variety of businesses, including Perpetual Home Health, Incorporated and Legacy Home Healthcare Services. He submitted millions of dollars in false claims for services never delivered (or price inflated or medically unnecessary services).

Allegedly, Perpetual Home Health, Inc. – by itself – submitted 14,000 different claims between the middle of 2006 and early 2011 and collected $38 million in payments from Medicare. This made it one of the biggest recipients of Medicare funds in all of Illinois. Gabriel, Jr. allegedly used the money he collected from Medicare to gamble, buy automobiles, purchase real estate at home and abroad, provide kickbacks and gifts to physicians for patient referrals, and more.

One can only speculate about the potential punishments that Gabriel might face, including jail time, a destroyed reputation, massive fines and forced reimbursements to victims and to the government, and other problems.

If you or someone you care about has been charged with a similar kind of Southern California Medicare fraud, Los Angeles insurance fraud, or Southern California white collar crime, you might be extremely fearful of the long jail sentence, massive fines, and destruction of your professional and personal reputation.

The question is: What do you do now?

A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group, can help you understand your current reality and face down the challenges heading your way. It’s not resourceful to deny your situation or wait to get help.

The sooner you acknowledge the charges against you -- identify the outcomes you want to avoid and outcomes you want to achieve -- the easier it will be to map out a strategy to get you to where you want to be. Your success or failure can hinge on the quality of your legal representation. Attorney Michael Kraut is an extremely experienced defense attorney – he’s also a very successful former prosecutor, and he taps into his prosecutorial knowledge and relationships to help his clients get the results they need.

Ask anyone in law enforcement how to end the problem of Long Beach DUI, and they will tell you that we need better enforcement, more measurement of the problem, better education and tools for law enforcement, drivers, road engineers and policymakers. These are good points. And if we did indeed measure DUIs better with richer metrics, chances are we could see a decline in Pasadena DUI, Glendale DUI, Burbank DUI and Los Angeles DUI arrests. That being said, statistics may not be as useful as many bright-eyed and bushy-tailed pundits believe they are. As the old saw goes, “there are lies, damned lies and statistics.”

Case in point: consider a small story published in a Kansas newspaper, the Wichita Eagle, last week: “Wichita police see spike in DUI arrests.” Over a relatively non-special weekend, police saw a jump in DUI arrests of more than 50% – 31 arrests, up from the usual 21 DUI arrests for the weekend. Traffic accidents also increased from 70 to 98. This is a statistically significant shift, by any measure, and law enforcement officials and local prognosticators jumped on the story to immediately develop explanations for the surge. Wichita Eagle posited “there are lot of outdoor activities at this time of year… and that increases the opportunities for drunk driving to occur.” That said, the magazine concluded with this statement: “DUI arrests were made all over Wichita…and couldn’t be linked to any specific event.”

What if the surge was just a random fluctuation? Sounds impossible?

It turns out that statistics don’t work quite the way that most people believe that they do. In any given city, on any given weekend, one might expect a surprising surge – 50% or even more – as part of the random background statistical noise. In other words, the spike need not tie into any specific event because it really was random. It only appeared to have meaning because the statistics were considered just in the context of Wichita instead of in the context of the whole nation.

Think about it this way: say you were to flip a coin six times in a row. What are the odds that you flip heads each time? Here is the quick answer: 1 in 64 (1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2). If you pull out a coin and ever do this experiment, chances are pretty good (63 out of 64) that you will not get heads every time. But 1 out of every 64 readers of this blog post will! And to that person, this post may seem like magic. In fact, it’s not. Random events can look like something more than random when viewed out of context. Thus, the spike in Wichita DUIs might not have been anything at all. It might have been something… but there is not really a clean and clear way to tell.

The same thinking should apply to study of Long Beach DUI statistics.

On a more practical note, if you are in need of the services of an experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, Long Beach’s Kraut Law Group (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) may be able to steer you in a good direction. Attorney Michael Kraut is an experienced prosecutor who is respected by legal peers and by major news media as a maven of Los Angeles DUI law. He can help you understand your rights, develop a strategy, and ensure that you make smart decisions going forward to protect your rights as a defendant.

Continue reading "Long Beach DUI Statistics: What Can They Really Tell Us?" »

A quiet but disturbing Los Angeles Medicare fraud case resolved last Monday, when 45-year-old Petros Odachyan was sentenced to 51 months in prison in a Los Angeles Federal Court pursuant to charges that his company, RL Medical Supply, defrauded Medicare out of $600,000 (after billing the program for more than $1 million).

Prosecutors charged Odachyan with forging prescriptions for items like medical equipment, electric wheelchairs, and hospital bills – most of which RL Medical Supply never gave to patients. Odachyan pled guilty last June to committing healthcare fraud; he now will apparently face more than four years behind bars, unless he appeals the decision and manages to get some reprieve.

Odachyan’s sad saga is unfortunately all too common these days. And anyone who has been recently accused of Southern California medical fraud, Los Angeles insurance fraud, or any other Southern California white collar crime could potentially face similarly serious sentences – many years behind bars, possibly, and a total devastation of your business reputation.

If you did commit a wrong, even the most competent and reputable Los Angeles criminal defense attorney may not be able to help you escape punishment entirely. But the actions you take from this point forward can have an enormous bearing on your future and potential to rebound from your arrest and charges.

Often, many people who have been charged with white collar crimes buckle under the spotlight and scrutiny (and loss of support from family, friends, and colleagues on top of that) and don’t fight vigorously enough for their rights. And this is a shame. Obviously, gains that have been illicitly taken from programs like Medicare should be paid back, and if you really did to harm to anybody or any institution, you likely need to repair that harm or make up for it in some way.

But self-flagellation or capitulation or denial will not make the past go away or make your future any better. A good defense begins with a clear headed acceptance of your current reality. Your next step is to identify where you want to be – in ideal circumstances. The Kraut Law Group’s Michael Kraut is a former city prosecutor (14 plus years as a Senior Deputy DA, in fact) who founded Kraut Law Group to help criminal defendants tap into his expertise not only to extract themselves from unfortunate circumstances but also to rebuild their lives and futures.

After U.S. lawmakers pressured Apple, the tech company has banned an app called “Buzzed” which revealed the locations of Long Beach DUI checkpoints (and checkpoints elsewhere) that police had not previously publicized. Apple also changed its online store guidelines to come into compliance with this new policy: “Apps which contain DUI checkpoints [such as Los Angeles DUI, Pasadena DUI, Glendale DUI, Burbank DUI, etc.] that are not published by law enforcement agencies that encourage and enable drunk driving will be rejected."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) Nevada applauded Apple but encouraged the company “to take the next responsible step for removing all applications that allow unsafe drivers to evade police checkpoints.” Perez Hilton, for one, also applauded the Apple move: “It’s definitely a step in the right direction… we feel these apps only do more harm than good by putting other drives at risk. Not only will drunk drivers be drunk, but they will be fiddling around on their cell phones to avoid getting caught!”

Opinions about Apple's move were far from unanimous, however. For instance, as techdirt.com points out, blogger Nick Gillespie built a powerful argument against the banning of apps like Buzzed: “police themselves regularly make this info available as a deterrent.”

Quoting from Gillespie’s blog now: “Some police departments actually support the data used in such apps because they reduce the number of drunk drivers on the road!”

Another blog post on reason.com argued that such apps (like Buzzed) actually minimize drunk driving and speeding – which is one of the reasons why police in places such as Travis County, Texas are the ones entering the information for DUI checkpoint apps such as Trapster. As a Travis County cop puts it, “If we can stop the problematic behavior without writing tickets or hauling people, everybody is better off.”

The pundits and techno bloggers can continue to debate the merits (or lack thereof) of Apple’s app ban. But if you or someone you care about has recently been pulled over at a Long Beach DUI checkpoint, you have fewer intellectual concerns and more practical ones. A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, such as Long Beach’s Kraut Law Group (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454), can inform you, help you understand your rights and responsibilities, and develop an astute and aggressive strategy to clear your record and defend your interests.

Continue reading "Long Beach DUI Tech News – Apple Bans “Buzzed” App" »

Last Monday, Armen Kazarian, a “Vor” or “don” for the Armenian mafia, admitted in court that “I was involved in a criminal conspiracy,” including Southern California Medicare fraud.

Last October, federal investigators busted up Kazarian’s ring of 118 “phantom” clinics that allegedly made off with over $35 million in funds. All told, Kazarian and his co-conspirators tried to defraud the government out of around $160 million. 70 mobsters stand accused. So far, only Karen Aharonian and Rafik Terdjanain have pled guilty. The deal that the mob godfather developed with prosecutors generated heated debate on the blogosphere. According to the New York Daily News, Kazarian “admitted Monday to making threats and other crimes in exchange for the light (3-year) sentence. The final details of the plea were put off for a week.” Prosecutors who busted up the ring expressed their respect for the size and structure of the Armenian mob’s conspiracy, saying that it “put the traditional mafia to shame.”

Will busting up Kazarian’s ring fundamentally alter the game? When reports suggest that Medicare fraud losses top $60 billion a year, it’s hard to see how any individual busts -- even of the size and scope of this crackdown -- can have fundamental, game changing effects.

This isn’t to say that actions to clamp down on crimes like Southern California identity theft, Los Angeles white collar crime and Southern California insurance fraud shouldn’t be priorities. But let's at least collectively acknowledge the limitations that law enforcement agencies face.

Elsewhere, Business Week has reported that a Federal judge in Tennessee has ordered three companies to pay over $86.2 million in a separate Medicare fraud case started up by a whistleblower.

What should you do if you’ve been accused of medical, dental or chiropractic fraud in Southern California? A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can help you organize and follow through on a strong strategy. But time is of the essence. The longer you wait to retain experienced counsel, the more difficult may be to assemble evidence, construct arguments and anticipate prosecutorial tactics. Attorney Michael Kraut of Los Angeles’ Kraut Law Group spent the bulk of his career as a city prosecutor (Senior Deputy District Attorney), and he leverages his former prosecutorial experience to tremendous effect for his clients. Attorney Kraut can provide a free, comprehensive and confidential consultation about your white collar crime charges.

Last week, while most of the blogosphere zeroed in on the salacious accusations against International Monetary Fund's chief, the news on the Southern California Medicare fraud front was not exactly silent.

Indeed, a May 14th article in the Wall Street Journal ("Medicare Fraud Nets Guilty Plea") has had a lot of pundits and analysts debating the implications. A Brooklyn physical therapist, Alexander Kharkover, plead guilty the Friday before last in Federal Court to five counts of submitting false/fraudulent claims to Medicare. For a five-year period (from January 2005 to July 2010), Kharkover allegedly overbilled Medicare to the tune of nearly $12 million, and Medicare paid $7.3 million worth of those claims.

Mr. Kharkover pled guilty without trying to arrange a plea deal. He has yet to be sentenced. Here is an interesting quote from the WSJ about the matter: “According to a person familiar with the case, in one instance, Mr. Kharkover allegedly submitted a bill for a service he performed personally, but on a date when he was on vacation cruise.”

Anyone who has been charged with a Southern California white collar crime, Los Angeles insurance fraud, or a somewhat related crime, like Southern California identity theft, may be quickly and roundly excoriated in the press as a villain, even if your case is complicated and extenuating arguments might explain your actions (or failure to act).

Unfortunately for white collar crime defendants, the public is in a relatively tenacious mood. As the national economy continues to lag, the public appears to be less and less tolerant of what it perceives to be “crimes of the rich.” Meanwhile, the federal government has cranked up its anti-fraud programs, and the experience of defendants like this Brooklyn healthcare provider can often be scary, lonely, and overwhelming.

A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group, (6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 915, Los Angeles, California 90028), can give you insight and practical help. Mr. Kraut has a stellar record at jury trials, a great reputation within the legal community, and lots of experience as a former prosecutor he draws upon to help his clients get excellent results.

Yes, it can be scary to be charged with multiple fraud counts, especially if you know that you did something wrong. But the quality of your legal representation can have a dramatic influence on your potential penalties and your ability to put the arrest behind you and get back to living your life and running your business.

As this blog has been reporting for months now, federal investigators have been really cracking down on crimes like Southern California Medicare and Medical fraud. A breaking story out of Miami highlights how much the government means “business.”

According to an April 14th story in the Miami Herald, Lawrence Duran and his wife, Marianella Valera, pled guilty to stealing $200 million from Medicare as part of a massive conspiracy. The couple could face 20 years in prison – for running what the Herald describes as “The nation’s largest mental health racket.”

The couple, who owned seven different mental health clinics, got indicted last October on charges of defrauding 22 defendants, including psychiatrists, recruiters, and even senior employers in their companies. The Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Lanny Breuer, did not mince words: “they reaped millions in illegal profits by operating a sham mental healthcare company that provided unnecessary and illegitimate treatments to patients, many of whom were recruited through bribes and kickbacks, and then they laundered the proceeds.”

Duran and Valera tried to negotiate a plea deal for the 38 count indictment but ultimately failed. It’s unclear whether they’ll be charged with trying to steal $83 million from Medicare (the amount they actually received) or $200 million (the amount that their company billed Medicare). The resolution of this niggling issue may have a strong bearing on their prison sentences. At this point, the couple could face a decade in prison… or two decades.

Irrespective of what happens to this couple, the harshness and severity of the justice delivered should make anyone charged with a similar crime of Los Angeles credit card fraud, Southern California insurance fraud, or any other Southern California white collar crime nervous.

Fortunately, an experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can provide powerful and useful strategic guidance – but your choice of lawyer does matter. You want to make sure that your attorney has trial experience, the capability to investigate and understand the sophisticated charges you face, and good working relationships with prosecutors.

Mr. Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group served for many years as a prosecutor of crimes like Southern California white collar crime, and he has a hugely successful rate at jury trials. You can use his experience to help you develop and execute a smart and results-oriented defense.

The crime of driving under the influence in Glendale – in and of itself – is enormous and consequential, even if you don’t cause damage to life or limb and you cooperate fully with authorities – and even if you were just barely over the limit.

But evidence mounting against Miguel Cabrera – an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers – suggests that the major leaguer, who was arrested back in February on DUI charges, may be in a lot more trouble than anyone previously knew.

As this blog and other media outlets reported, Cabrera got arrested on February 16th in a florid scene that probably would have been newsworthy even if he hadn’t been a major league baseball player. If you have been pulled over in a relatively pedestrian Burbank DUI, Glendale DUI, Los Angeles DUI, or Pasadena DUI matter, you may be shocked to learn how crazy Cabrera’s arrest was.

He apparently drank a whisky bottle in front of the officer who arrested him, asked the police to “kill me” and confessed to having threatened to blow up a steakhouse.

Turns out, all those things pale in comparison with what Cabrera might have done.

Last week, the Florida State’s Attorney’s Office released evidence that suggests that Cabrera nearly ran two different Wal-Mart trucks off the road in his Range Rover. The truckers were forced to “take evasive action… in order not to hit [Cabrera’s] sport utility vehicle head on.”

Cabrera allegedly caused one tractor trailer to dodge him and another to actually drive all the way onto the grass to avoid a collision.

More information about what actually happened will no doubt trickle in, once the June 10 hearing arrives. Had Cabrera collided head first with either of the trucks, chances are, this would be a story about Los Angeles DUI manslaughter.

When SUVs and truck collide on the highways head on at high speeds, even advanced safety measures like ABS and airbags can be rendered essentially useless. Glendale DUI vehicular manslaughter charges can lead to punishments such as lengthy jail sentences, fines and fees, alcohol school, strict probation, and essentially the end of a baseball career (or any career).

An experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney (one example: Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group – located in Glendale at 450 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 600, Glendale, California 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123) can help you make sense of the charges pending against you and act in a timely, appropriate and proactive way to manage the charges. Connect today with this Harvard Law School educated attorney to go over your case and start plotting the most appropriate legal response.

Continue reading "Glendale DUI Near Nightmare Averted by Sheer Chance – Slugger Miguel Cabrera Nearly Ran Two Truckers Off the Road" »

As regular followers of this blog’s ongoing series on Los Angeles Medicare fraud know, the Federal Government has been stepping up its campaign to bust up Southern California insurance fraud and other white collar crimes – particularly Medicare and Medicaid related schemes.

Today, we'll focus on a major news story out of Detroit, Michigan. According to the AP, Oscar Linares, a 53-year-old Michigan doctor, allegedly fraudulently billed Medicare for $5.7 million between 2008 and 2010. The Wednesday before last, authorities broke into Linares’ clinic, The Monroe Pain Center, and arrested the doctor.

According to reports from the Monroe Evening News, Linares’ Medicare fraud was unusually intense. He allegedly saw 250 patients a day – actually, he didn’t specifically "see" the patients, he had proxies see the patients and dole out prescriptions for controlled substances like OxyContin. Indeed, if more than 200 patients came in a day, employees allegedly would get bonuses!

The AP says that Linares “had patients get medical tests without regard to their symptoms and medical conditions.” Authorities seized 7 luxury cars Linares owned as well as four bank accounts that he allegedly stuffed with money from the Medicare fraud.

Obviously, the superficial evidence suggests the government might have a strong case against Linares. But it’s important not to rush to judgment when you read reports about Southern California white collar crime, Medi-Cal fraud, Los Angeles credit card fraud, and the like. After all, situations that appear from news reports to be “black and white” – as in, “this guy is obviously guilty” -- may turn out to be far more nuanced upon deeper examination.

This isn’t to say that a doctor, chiropractor or dentist accused of Southern California white collar crime will be totally innocent of the charges – but rather that news reports can artificially “gin up” our tendency to prejudge defendants.

Note also: We are not saying that white collar crime and Medicare fraud are not huge problems for this country and that perpetrators should not be stopped. Rather, the argument is that it’s important to holistically examine fraud cases instead of demonizing individual defendants. In other words, is there really an epidemic of fraud? What’s driving it? And how best can we motivate doctors and others to play within the rules?

When dealing with complicated issues like prescription narcotic addiction and Medicare fraud, it’s temptingly easy to draw lines between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” – but this a lazy way of approaching the problem. Instead, let’s have the collective courage to understand the root causes driving addiction, abuse of medical power and waste in government entitlement programs.

If you or a family member stands accused of Los Angeles Medicare or Medi-Cal fraud, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can be an invaluable asset. Mr. Michael Kraut (of the Kraut Law Group based in Los Angeles) is a former senior level city prosecutor who now represents defendants like you. He has an amazing record at jury trials and has won respect not only from his peers but also from judges and other prosecutors.

For last several years, we've witnessed massive arrests for Southern California Medicare fraud and other healthcare fraud schemes around the nation. Billions of dollars have been seized, and hundreds of people have been arrested and brought to trial. The news practically glitters every week with examples of chiropractors, dentists, doctors, and other healthcare providers caught up in the dragnet.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, President Obama’s 2012 budget proposes a variety of new antifraud tools that will escalate the government’s fight against fraudsters and scam artists. Some experts estimate that the antifraud tools may save over $32 billion over the next decade. What are some of these new antifraud tools, and will these enhanced tactics really repair the system and prevent abuse and graft?

First, let’s take a look at some crucial statistics:

• The Government Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that nearly 10% of total outlays – around $48 billion – were “improper” in 2010.
• A cardiothoracic surgeon and Republican representative from Louisiana, Dr. Charles Boustany, testified that “Medicare fraud has become such an attractive target for criminals that the FBI and OIG have seen an increasing number of foreign criminal groups coming to America to exploit the program because it’s less risky and a lot more lucrative than other illegal ventures.”
• The House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony from a Nigerian immigrant, Aghaegbuna Odelugo, who pilfered nearly $10 million from Medicare last decade by deploying 14 different front companies to defraud Medicare by false billing for wheelchairs, DEMA pumps, and orthotics. Odelugo testified that “the primary skill required to do it [commit the Medicare fraud] successfully is knowledge of basic data entry on the computer.” Scary stuff.

The antifraud tools proposed include:

• An additional $350 million (to be allocated over this next decade) to help law enforcement detect fraud;
• Heightened scrutiny for providers who sign up for Medicare – particularly high risk caregivers;
• Increased use of recovery audit contractors for a variety of programs, including Medicaid and Medicare Advantage;
• Better data sharing and data analytics among federal agencies to identify fraud in real time;
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services can stop payment immediately if a fraud allegation hits the radar.

Doctors, chiropractors, other caregivers who’ve been hit with Southern California white collar crime charges, charges of Los Angeles credit card fraud, or Los Angeles insurance fraud often don’t understand the scary options that prosecutors can deploy to hold them accountable. A talented Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer, like Michael Kraut, can give defendants the strategic advice they need to draft and execute an appropriate, methodical defense.