{"id":60723,"date":"2026-04-07T16:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60723"},"modified":"2026-04-07T22:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:09:22","slug":"orange-county-man-admits-270-million-medi-cal-fraud-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60723","title":{"rendered":"Orange County Man Admits $270 Million Medi-Cal Fraud Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"WestAn Orange County man has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a massive health care fraud scheme that billed Medi-Cal nearly $270 million for unnecessary or nonexistent prescription drugs over less than a year, federal prosecutors said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quick facts:<\/strong><\/span>
\u2014 Defendant:<\/strong> Paul Richard Randall, 66, of Orange<\/span>
\u2014 Charge:<\/strong> Wire fraud committed while on release<\/span>
\u2014 Fraud billed:<\/strong> ~$269.1 million<\/span>
\u2014 Paid by Medi-Cal:<\/strong> ~$178.7 million<\/span>
\u2014 Timeframe:<\/strong> May 2022 to April 2023 (11 months)<\/span>
\u2014 Sentencing:<\/strong> Aug. 3; faces up to 30 years in prison<\/span><\/p>\n

Randall pleaded guilty Monday and has been in federal custody since June 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis defendant used a public health program as his personal piggy bank,\u201d said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to his plea agreement, Randall and co-schemers Kyrollos Mekail, 37, of Moreno Valley, and Patricia Anderson, 58, of West Hills, exploited a temporary suspension of Medi-Cal\u2019s prior authorization requirement during a transition to a new prescription drug payment system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Operating through Monte Vista Pharmacy, the group billed Medi-Cal tens of millions of dollars per month for high-reimbursement medications that contained inexpensive generic ingredients, were medically unnecessary, or were never provided to patients, authorities said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutors said the scheme targeted 19 costly, non-contracted drugs. Some prescriptions were purportedly for pain treatment, including Folite tablets, a vitamin available over the counter, according to officials<\/span><\/p>\n

In total, Medi-Cal paid more than $178 million on the claims.<\/span><\/p>\n

Randall admitted transmitting approximately $269.1 million in fraudulent claims tied to prescriptions written by Anderson. Authorities said the conspirators also laundered proceeds through third parties to pay kickbacks and conceal the scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mekail previously pleaded guilty in August 2024 to two counts of health care fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Anderson has been charged with two counts of health care fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES\u00a0 An Orange County man has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a massive health care fraud scheme that billed Medi-Cal nearly $270 million for unnecessary or nonexistent prescription drugs over less than…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOrange County Man Admits $270 Million Medi-Cal Fraud Scheme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LOS ANGELES\u00a0 An Orange County man has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a massive health care fraud scheme that billed Medi-Cal nearly $270 million for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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