Former Tustin Hospital Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty to Paying Kickbacks in ‘Skid Row’ Health Care Fraud Plot

Criminal Justice Online

  "February 13, 2010 - LOS ANGELES—The former chief financial officer of Tustin Hospital and Medical Center agreed in court papers filed today to plead guilty to paying illegal kickbacks for patients who were recruited from the “Skid Row” area of Los Angeles.

In a plea agreement filed today in United States District Court, Vincent Rubio 49, of Los Angeles, admitted paying illegal kickbacks to “marketers” who recruited homeless persons from Los Angeles’ Skid Row and had them transported to Tustin Hospital.

In addition to the healthcare fraud charge, Rubio admitted that he failed to report the payments he received from one of the marketers on his federal tax returns.

Rubio specifically admitted to participating in a scheme to pay Estill Mitts, who operated a center on Skid Row that recruited homeless people to receive unnecessary health services, and others to refer homeless Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries to Tustin Hospital for in-patient hospital stays. As part of the scheme, Tustin Hosptial entered into sham “consulting” contracts intended to conceal the illegal kickbacks. Tustin billed Medicare and Medi-Cal for in-patient services provided to the recruited homeless beneficiaries, including those for whom in-patient hospitalization was not medically necessary.

Tustin is a subsidiary of Pacific Health Corporation, which also owns Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center, Anaheim General Hospital. . . " Read More