LOS ANGELES
According to officials, a federal grand jury indicted a physician who owned clinics in Westminster and Garden Grove of filing more than a quarter billion dollars worth of false claims to the COVID-19 program for uninsured patients.
The Justice Department stated on Thursday that he ultimately collected payments totaling roughly $150 million for services that were either not given or not covered under the program.
Anthony Hao Dinh, 64, of Newport Coast, a licensed doctor of osteopathy who specialized in the ears, nose, and throat and in facial plastic surgery, was charged on Wednesday in an 18-count indictment with defrauding the COVID-19 Uninsured Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Dinh was initially charged in this case in a criminal complaint filed on April 10.
The indictment significantly broadens the case by claiming that more fraudulent claims were submitted to HRSA, charging Dinh with obstructing the government’s investigation into improper healthcare billing and adding charges of money laundering and additional allegations about other fraud schemes against pandemic relief programs.
The indictment charges Dinh with 12 counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering (with two of those charges alleging the transfer of more than $11 million to personal stock trading accounts) and one count of obstructing justice.
Dinh, who is free on a $7 million bond, is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Oct. 30 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.
This is the largest fraud scheme in the nation targeting the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program uncovered at this time.
Two other defendants charged with Dinh in April also face new charges:
- Hanna (“Hang”) Trinh Dinh, 65, of Lake Forest, who is Dinh’s sister, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted to helping submit fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications that sought more than $260,000 in COVID relief funds; and
- Matthew Hoang Ho, 66, of Melbourne, Florida, was charged on May 2 in a grand jury indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering in relation to the PPP and EIDL applications, and he is scheduled to go on trial on February 6, 2024.
In relation to the fraud against HRSA, over the course of about nine months – from July 2020 to March 2021 – Dinh allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for the treatment of patients who were insured, services that were not rendered, and services that were not medically necessary.
“As a result of these false and fraudulent claims, HRSA made payments to defendant Dinh, through [his medical] practices, in the approximate amount of $150 million.”
The Uninsured Program was designed to prevent the further spread of the pandemic by providing access to uninsured patients for testing and treatment.
The Uninsured Program was also designed to provide financial support to health care providers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by reimbursing them for services provided to uninsured individuals.
In relation to the PPP and EIDL program, the indictment alleges that Dinh submitted, or caused to be submitted, approximately 65 fraudulent loan applications that sought nearly $8 million and caused the programs to disburse approximately $2.8 million in funds.
Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
If he were to be convicted in this case, Dinh would face up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud and three of the money laundering charges, up to 10 years for two of the money laundering charges, and up to 20 years for the obstruction of justice charge that alleges he submitted false patient records in response to a grand jury subpoena.
The case against Dinh, his sister, and Ho is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General; the FBI; IRS Criminal Investigation; the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the AMTRAK Office of Inspector General; and the California Department of Health Care Services.
Assistant United States Attorney Roger A. Hsieh of the Major Frauds Section, and Justice Department Assistant Chief Justin M. Woodard, and Trial Attorney Helen H. Lee of the Fraud Section are prosecuting this case.