Son of former Long Beach hospital owner pleads guilty in massive fraud case

The govement revealed Friday that three more people pleaded guilty in a massive scheme involving kickbacks and workers compensation fraud coected to a Long Beach hospital, including the son of the former hospital’s owner.

Michael R. Drobot, 44, of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and paying kickbacks in coection with a scheme to perform uecessary spinal surgeries on patients at Pacific Hospital in Long Beach. He will be sentenced Nov. 18.

His father, Michael D. Drobot, pleaded guilty to similar charges in February 2014.

The other defendants aounced Friday are Michael E. Barri, 48, of San Clemente, and Linda Martin, 66, of Clovis.

• Barri, a chiropractor, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and received nearly $159,000 worth of kickbacks for sending patients to Pacific Hospital, according to prosecutors. He also owns the Santa Ana-based companies Jojaso Management and Tri-Star Management Group. His sentencing is scheduled for January 2017.

• Martin is a former Pacific Hospital marketer who lured medical professionals and others into the kickback scheme. She pleaded guilty on May 27 to a conspiracy charge and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 19.

Attoeys for the younger Drobot, Barri and Martin could not be reached immediately for comment.

Operation Spinal Tap

The new charges stem from a sweeping investigation dubbed Operation Spinal Cap by federal investigators. The Justice Department reports that over the course of some 15 years, the elder Drobot and other conspirators perpetrated a scheme in which doctors, chiropractors and others referred patients to Pacific Hospital for spinal surgeries in exchange for kickbacks.

The elder Drobot raised cash for the kickbacks by inflating the costs of spinal hardware used to perform surgeries at Pacific Hospital, according to his plea agreement. The govement reports the fraud resulted in more than $580 million worth of shady medical billings being filed from 2005 through 2013, much of which ended up being paid through the Califoia and federal workers’ compensation systems.

Insurers paid some $226 million to Pacific Hospital for surgeries that took place as a result of the illegal kickback arrangements.

“Federal law prohibits kickbacks to health care professionals because these payments impose additional costs on all patients and corrupt the relationship between the doctor and patient,” U.S. Attoey Eileen M. Decker said in a statement. “This scheme resulted in what can only be called a massive amount of fraudulent billing.”

Prior developments

The elder Drobot owned Pacific Hospital until late 2013. The complex is now known as College Medical Center.

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The govement previously aounced charges against five other individuals in late November. Four of those men pleaded guilty to charges related to the Justice Department’s investigation of Drobot and Pacific Hospital. A fifth individual pleaded out to a conspiracy charge related to another kickback scheme involving Tri-City Medical Center in Hawaiian Gardens.

The five men involved in those cases are still awaiting sentencing, according to U.S. Attoey’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek.

The elder Drobot’s case is also coected to federal charges against former Democratic state legislators Ron and Tom Calderon. The federal govement indicted the pair in February 2014 on several charges.

The feds have accused Ron Calderon, a former state Senator, of accepting bribes from the elder Drobot in exchange for supporting workers’ compensation reimbursement policies that made it possible for him and others to illegally make money by overbilling for spinal hardware. The govement has also accused Ron Calderon of taking bribes from undercover FBI agents who posed as moviemakers seeking favorable changes to the state’s film tax credit program. Charges against Ron Calderon include mail fraud, wire fraud, bribery and money laundering.

Tom Calderon, a former Assemblyman, was charged with crimes including seven counts of money laundering.

Trial for Ron and Tom Calderon may begin on July 19.