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| | AIG Embezzlers Get Preliminary Hearing Set For September 9th 2009 By Lonce LaMon - July 17, 2009This morning, July 17th at 8:30 am, the pre-trial hearing for the infamous AIG embezzlers: Hector Porrata, Cara Cruz-Thompson, George Martinez, and Rene Montes took place at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, California.
All the defendents just referenced above were present in Court this morning. All that happened, since this was the pre-trial hearing, was that the preliminary hearing date was set for September 9, 2009 at 8:30 am at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Each one of the defendants: Hector Porrata, Cara Cruz-Thompson, George Martinez, and Rene Montes are still in custody. None of them are out on bail. They are still scheduled to be tried as a group, and none of them tried separately.
For new readers who have not been following this case, here is a recap:
Fraud was discovered when AIG in Costa Mesa, California, received a payment demand letter from a hospital in February 2007 for an outstanding medical lien, which had been paid to Rene Montes. Montes, who was the owner of W.C. Surgery Centers in La Habra and W.C.S.C. & Associates in Riverside, had already received payment for the hospital's services but did not pay over the approximately $100,000 owed the hospital according to its lien, to the hospital. Allegedly Montes did not have authority to negotiate this lien on behalf of the hospital, but acted in collusion with either Porrata, Martinez, or Cruz-Thompson to settle and receive payment for the lien.
When AIG received the hospital's payment demand letter early in 2007, it conducted an internal audit and discovered Porrata, Martinez and Cruz-Thompson were the only claims adjusters to have settled liens with Montes. AIG reported its findings to the Orange County DA's office.
Porrata, Martinez and Cruz-Thompson allegedly paid Montes more than $1,170,000 while they worked as work comp claims adjusters at AIG. Porrata and Cruz-Thompson are also accused of fraudulently settling Montes' claims and paying him $310,000 from when they had previously worked at a Third Party Administrator called Matrix Absence Management.
Cara Cruz-Thompson is booked and being held at the Central Women's Jail in Santa Ana, California, under the name of Cara Ann Cruz. Rene Montes, Hector Porrata, and George Martinez are in the Central Men's Jail at 555 No. Flower Street in Santa Ana, California. |