SANTA ANA – Seven people – including chiropractors, attorneys and a paralegal – have been charged in an undercover sting operation targeting insurance overbilling and the illegal practice of law, prosecutors announced today.

Investigators from the Orange County District Attorney's Gatekeepers Insurance Fraud Team  conducted walk-in visits of chiropractic clinics and law offices in 2006 and 2007, posing as "patients" claiming to be suffering from soft tissue damage from car accidents, according to D.A. spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

Some of the defendants then allegedly treated the "patients" for nonexisting injuries, overbilled insurance companies for treatments that were never rendered, and coached "patients" on what to say when they were interviewed by insurance companies, according to a statement from the D.A.'s Office.

In one case, some defendants negotiated an illegal 30 percent kickback scheme for patient referrals, according to the statement. In another case, a chiropractor billed an insurance company for 29 "treatments" after seeing the undercover officer only nine times

And in a third case, a law-office administrator is charged with double-billing two insurance companies for same "accident."

Arrest warrants were issued for seven defendants, including three chiropractors, two attorneys and two law office administrators, charging them with multiple counts of insurance fraud, unauthorized practice of law and the unlawful receipt of funds.

Full story