{"id":52410,"date":"2023-03-06T19:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T03:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52410"},"modified":"2023-03-06T19:42:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T03:42:59","slug":"surgeon-guilty-of-federal-charges-for-accepting-300000-in-illicit-payments-to-perform-spinal-surgeries-at-corrupt-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52410","title":{"rendered":"Surgeon Guilty of Federal Charges for Accepting $300,000 in Illicit Payments to Perform Spinal Surgeries at Corrupt Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"A federal jury found an orthopedic surgeon guilty of accepting more than $315,000 in bribes and kickbacks for spinal surgeries at a now-defunct Long Beach hospital, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The owner of the hospital was imprisoned for committing a massive workers\u2019 compensation insurance fraud, the Justice Department announced Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. David Hobart Payne, 65, of Irvine, was found guilty late Friday afternoon after a six-day trial.<\/span><\/p>\n

The jury found Payne guilty of one count of conspiracy, two counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of use of an interstate facility in aid of bribery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"closeup According to the evidence presented at trial, Michael Drobot \u2013the owner of Pacific Hospital \u2013 conspired with doctors, chiropractors, and marketers to pay kickbacks and bribes in return for the referral of patients to Pacific Hospital for spinal surgeries and other medical services.<\/span><\/p>\n

These services and surgeries were paid for primarily through the California workers\u2019 compensation system. <\/span><\/p>\n

During its final five years, the scheme resulted in the submission of more than $500 million in medical bills for spinal surgeries involving kickbacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Payne received bribes from Drobot of up to $15,000 for each spinal surgery that he performed at Pacific Hospital. <\/span><\/p>\n

The top bribe payment was for lumbar spinal surgeries Payne performed on patients at Pacific Hospital with implants from one of Drobot\u2019s companies. <\/span><\/p>\n

Drobot and Payne covered up the bribes by disguising them as payments for marketing services and fees based on a sham contract.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In total, Payne received more than $315,000 in illegal payments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In April 2013, law enforcement searched Pacific Hospital, which was sold later that year, bringing the kickback scheme to an end.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To date, 24 defendants, including doctors and surgeons, have been convicted for participating in the kickback scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a\u00a0<\/b>June 2 sentencing hearing. Payne faces up to 50 years in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the California Department of Insurance investigated this matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Billy Joe McLain and Hava Mirell of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES\u00a0 A federal jury found an orthopedic surgeon guilty of accepting more than $315,000 in bribes and kickbacks for spinal surgeries at a now-defunct Long Beach hospital, officials stated. The owner…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nSurgeon Guilty of Federal Charges for Accepting $300,000 in Illicit Payments to Perform Spinal Surgeries at Corrupt Hospital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES\u00a0 A federal jury found an orthopedic surgeon guilty of accepting more than $315,000 in bribes and kickbacks for spinal surgeries at\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52410\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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