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adjustercom.net - FraudFromInsideAndOutsideTheCourtroom

 


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The Wolves Of Work Comp Street
By Jorge Alexandria - January 27, 2014

Life is too short to listen to the same issue over and over again. Fraud and workers' compensation do not belong together and I’m tired of hearing about it. Nonetheless, when it happens, fraud is of note, though I wish it would happen less. The general public, unfortunately, has the impression that almost all fraud in workers’ compensation is committed by injured workers. The truth is that only 1% to 2% of California’s workers’ compensation claims are fraudulent. The rest is committed by organized crime. 

Take the case of Jeffrey Edward Campau, 39, of Yorba Linda, Abraham Khorshad, 62, of Beverly Hills, and Landen Alan Mirallegro, 38, of Yorba Linda, who operated Anaheim-based Aspen Medical Resources L.L.C, a durable medical equipment firm. They would get up and go to work, much like you do. They would spend time at the office, make a few phone calls, and appeared to be regular guys--if you leave out the part where their routine consisted of defrauding workers’ comp insurers of more than $36 million by overbilling for a physical therapy machine. 
 
From 2005 to 2013, they rented out a machine that provided hot and cold therapy to treat pain and inflammation for injured workers. Then they overbilled workers comp insurers by billing the rental of a single machine as two units, and by charging as much as $15,500 to $17,500 to rent the machine, which is valued at a retail price for purchase of less than $500.  This massive profit machine worked well until their office was raided by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) and the Department of Insurance, who jointly investigated this case, on August 15, 2012. One agent yelled, “Hang up the phones- it’s over!”
 
On January 22, 2014, the arraignment on the indictment was continued until March 14th 2014 at the request of the defendants.  Edward Campau, Abraham Khorshad and Landen Alan Mirallegro will meet in De
One agent yelled, "Hang up the phones--it's over!"
partment C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana, California on 22 felony counts of submitting multiple fraudulent claims, 22 felony counts of manufacturing documents in support of a fraudulent claim, one felony count of conspiracy, and sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crimes for loss over $500,000 and special loss over $3.2 million. If convicted on all counts, they each face a maximum sentence of 53 years in state prison. The defendants are out of custody on $1.5 million bail each.
 
A fourth man, Ryan Nathaniel McCracken, 29, Rancho Cucamonga, was charged with one felony count of conspiracy and faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison if convicted. He is out of custody on $20,000 bail.
 
While fraud may not have been the sum total of Aspen Medical Resources, Deputy District Attorney Shaddi Kamiabipour, who is prosecuting this case, is set to prove that fraud was inseparable from its business plan.
 
Campau, Mirallegro, and Khorshad also billed under other company names: National DME and Abrexis Orthocare LLC. They are accused of using different addresses and different Employment Tax Identification Numbers for each of these companies in order to mislead the insurance carriers and give the appearance that these companies were different companies under distinct ownerships.  
 
OCDA seized all assets of all companies which are now under receivership. To this vein it is not only the fraudster who is righteously punished but also those that depended on those companies for their livelihoods, as the letter sent to adjustercom by e-mail below from Ms. Black demonstrates:
 
----- Original Message -----
From: ROSE BLACK
Sent: 11/22/13 11:38 PM
To: lonce@adjustercom.com, riskletter@mail.com
Subject: Former Employee of Aspen Medical Resources-Inside the deception

Today I was told that I was being “laid off” from my job at Aspen Medical Resources, however, I was forced to sign a paper stating I was “terminated”. The people who delivered the news were Linda Pasillas and Ryan McCracken. Did they take us one by one into a private office and explain the situation of the D.A. not letting Aspen “function”? No, unbelievably they spoke to the people being “laid off”, including myself, in front of the entire office. The professional courtesy went to the employees who are being “kept on” to collect for Regional Imaging, when they were told around lunchtime what was to become of the rest of us. Yes, they told the people who were not losing their jobs that we would be “laid off”. There were 13 collectors. A collector is a person who calls and demands payment from the insurance companies as well as patients themselves for medical devices or procedures, 99% of which have been denied in a timely manner, to make commission from each company or patient they swindle. Out of the 13 collectors, 4 were “laid off”, just so happened these 4 collectors were the newer of the bunch and did not know how deep the lies really went. The other 9 collectors that are left are named Jasmine Meza, Lisa Zuorski, Lynnette Perez, Tiffany Boyles (aka Dawn Jones), Monica Chavez, Lorena Garcia, Briana Dobis, Yazil Castellanos and Joel Spitler. With the exception of Joel Spitler, Monica Chavez and Yazil Castellanos, I have witnessed all of the remaining collectors commit fraud. They have forged doctor’s signatures, wrote in dates, copy the same prescription and mark different equipment and dates on them and so on. The truth is what the D.A. has unearthed; however it is much larger. Professionalism is not a word I would use to describe Aspen Medical Resources, National Medical Equipment, Elite Diagnostics, Regional Imaging Services, 3DR Diagnostics, Abrexis Orthocare or Atlas Lien Services, which are all owned and/or operated by Jeffrey Campau, Landen Mirallegro, Abraham Khorshad and Ryan McCracken. The word I would use to describe my entire time at Aspen, National, Elite, Regional, 3DR, Abrexis and Atlas would be deceit.

The aforementioned people have continued their deceitful behavior by posing Atlas Lien Services as an independent agency that represents the above-mentioned companies. Atlas is the same company as the others, with the same people answering the phone calls and making “deals”. Beware, pay attention to addresses, phone and fax numbers, also they are not above having the collector change their names nor are the collector above doing so. Now to me, I will admit here that I was wrong to take their “standard procedure” thin lies and go on about my day, while watching it all happen before my eyes. With a family to support I would tell myself it was okay as long as they said so, but it was not okay. I encourage the D.A. to look closer and shut them down completely. They need only look in the patient files to see the two different inks or two different handwritings. When they raided the address of 685 I hoped they would come to our side at 725 N. Shepard Street, Anaheim, CA. 92806, with the huge Elite sign, and ask us questions and see the imaging files downstairs, they did not. I thank your website for posting the truth, as they are with insurance companies and patients some of their employees are not immune to their deceit. I implore who ever may read this, past (sic) it on and get the word out about the truth of this degenerate company (companies). Standing.
 
Fraud hurts everyone including innocent bystanders. Jeffrey Edward Campau, Abraham Khorshad, Landen Alan Mirallegro, and Ryan Nathaniel McCracken—the Wolves of Work Comp
First rate navigators always have in mind that other people are depending on them.... 
Street—cared about making it.  They weren’t brilliant or geniuses—how could they be?  They got caught.  They were hungry.  They wanted a fast and easy buck.
 
First rate navigators always have in mind that other people are depending on them and their ability to chart a good course. Take for instance a four jet fighter squadron. Three planes fly on the leader’s wing, watching him and following him wherever he goes. Whatever moves he makes, the rest of the team will make along with him. That is true whether he soars above the clouds or crashes into a mountain.  As navigators of Aspen Medical Resources, all four defendants crashed into the mountaintop.
 
The sad part is they led others astray as well. As Ms. Black illustrates in her letter, sometimes the employees knew that what they were billing for was smoke, and sometimes it just happened. A collector’s job is to collect. End of story. If they failed to bring in money they faced termination. That is true whether you work for Chase Manhattan or Wells Fargo. As hungry wolf pups, the employees of Aspen Medical were just pawns of the Four Aspen Wolves (defendants).
 
Still, they should have known there was something going on that was not quite above board and was perhaps downright illegal. It remains to be seen whether the OCDA’s investigation into the matter is complete or whether additional employees will be charged.  Given the contents of the letter from Ms. Black, it appears additional arrests need to be made.
 
Time will tell. 
 

Jorge Alexandría is a U.S. Army veteran who received his B.A. in Political Science from Cal State Los Angeles, and graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

He holds both a California Workers Compensation Claims Professional (WCCP) designation and the State of California’s Self-Insured Administrator’s License. He has more than 20 years of experience in claims handling, supervision, and risk management.

He currently practices federal workers’ compensation of maritime interest.He can be reached at Riskletter@mail.com. The views and knowledge expressed in this article are Jorge Alexandría’s alone.

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