Five Modesto doctors face charges in broad fraud and kickback scheme

April 20--Five Modesto doctors -- Jerome Robson, William Pistel, Jonathan Cohen, Robert E. Caton and John Casey Jr. -- are among more than two dozen physicians, pharmacists and business owners facing charges in the shutdown of a $40 million fraudulent medical billing and kickback operation, the state insurance commissioner announced Thursday morning.

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said a Beverly Hills couple are accused of masterminding a complex insurance fraud scheme of recruiting doctors and pharmacists to prescribe unnecessary treatment for workers compensation insurance patients.

Tanya Moreland King, 37, and her husband, Christopher King, 38, own the medical billing and medical management companies Monarch Medical Group Inc., King Medical Management Inc. and One Source Laboratories Inc.

Irvine pharmacists Charles Bonner, 56, and Mervyn Miller, 66, both owners of Steven's Pharmacy, are accused of conspiring with the Kings by selling more than $1 million in compound creams that were not FDA approved nor have known medical benefits, a news release from Jones says.

"The Kings and their co-conspirators played with patients' lives, buying and selling them for profit without regard to patient safety," Jones said. "Patients have the right to expect treatment decisions by health care professionals are based on medical need and not unadulterated greed. The magnitude of this alleged crime is an affront to ethical medical professionals."

The Kings are accused of making oral and written agreements with doctors across the state, paying them each time they prescribed a compound cream or oral medication or ordered a urine drug test, according to the news release. The doctors or the companies connected to them are accused of labeling the payments "marketing expenses" in an attempt to conceal the kickbacks. The Kings are accused of rewarding doctors who provided higher volume by paying for office technicians.

Casey, Cohen, Pistel and another doctor charged, Mohamed Ibrahim of Danville, are associated with Stanislaus Orthopedic Clinic, according to Jones and Rackauckas.

Robson, 68, Pistel, 53, Cohen, 57, Caton, 65, and Casey, 65, face the following charges: conspiracy to commit medical insurance fraud; filing false and fraudulent claims; taking rebates for patient referrals; and insurance fraud.

They're also charged with enhancements related to property damage and/or loss and aggravated white-collar crime.

Check back for more information.

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