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| | Trudy Maurer, Former CEO Of Implantium, Appears in San Diego Superior Court December 17th. Case Continued For Preliminary Hearing To February 16th 2016.
By Lonce LaMon - December 20, 2015
Trudy Maurer, the former CEO of Implantium, appeared in court at Department 30 in San Diego Superior Court in downtown San Diego at 220 W. Broadway on Thursday, December 17th. She is being charged by the San Diego District Attorney’s office on 24 counts of workers’ compensation related fraud for marking up spinal implants by thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars.
She had a similar case charged against her in 2013 by the Santa Clara County District Attorney. She was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine payable to the California Department of Insurance Workers’ Compensation Fraud Fund. She paid $120,000 in restitution to the workers’ compensation payer victims in that case.
So, on Thursday morning at 8:15 am, this writer sat down on the bench right exactly next to Trudy Maurer just in front of court room 30. I introduced myself and asked Ms. Mauer what she was going to do about these charges against her. I told her that State Compensation Insurance Fund was really mad about her mark-ups and what they feel were excessive charges. She stated she couldn’t talk to me, very politely, and I expressed that I understood. She then caught her attorney Rob Atkins’s attention and introduced me. Rob Atkins is from a San Francisco law firm, Winston & Strawn. Then, they both moved away down near the glass doorway to the hall.
Trudy Maurer appeared attractive in a black suit and pointed-toed high heels. She was well mannered and stated that she realized that of course, as a journalist, I am going to ask a question even when not expecting an answer. She was there with her mother, who was a diminutive woman, white-haired, in a wheel chair, and appeared to be more or less ninety years old.
Once the court room opened of the Honorable Michael Grouch, this writer entered ahead of the defendants. A court document was filed for Tigran Shahsuvaryan, Trudy Maurer’s former medical director, requesting a waiver from appearing personally in court. I saw it sitting next to Trudy Maurer on the bench just at my left. It was filed and signed by Tigran's attorney, Benjamin Gluck.
But Gluck did not appear at all. A David Horowitz may have been standing in for Benjamin Gluck, as he interacted with Trudy Maurer and Rob Atkins in the hallway, but his name could not be found on the Bird Firm website.
When Trudy Maurer and the Implantium case got called, Rob Atkins announced himself on behalf of Maurer. The judge responded that he saw that additional time was necessary. Thus, the next court date for the discussion of the Preliminary Hearing is now set for February 16th 2016. The Prelim could start the next day. The readiness conference will still happen, according to the schedule, on January 19th 2016.
lonce@adjustercom.com
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