The Department of Justice (DOJ) is charging a woman for a long-running healthcare fraud scheme: from 2017 to 2021, she billed a health insurer for sexual services offered to dockworkers at her California "wellness centers."
Sara Victoria, the "ringleader" of the scheme, hired women through Long Beach strip clubs and referrals to provide the services at her three chiropractic and acupuncture businesses. Federal prosecutors are also charging eight more people, seven of them dockworkers, who allowed her to submit the false claims to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union-Pacific Maritime Association (ILWU-PMA) health plan in exchange for sexual services.
According to her plea agreement, Victoria billed the health insurance plan -- which covered chiropractic services with no deductible or out-of-pocket costs -- for chiropractic and physical therapy using the dockworkers' names, or the names of their family members, for over $2.1 million in fake claims. In return, Victoria paid ILWU-PMA plan members cash kickbacks, facilitating the operation through coded language in text messages, court documents say. She ultimately collected around $550,000.
The ILWU said in a press release that it "has denounced fraudulent claims allegedly made against its ILWU-PMA Welfare Plan by seven workers and three health care providers."
"Our union is proud to have negotiated health benefits with our employer that we believe all Americans should have. We will not tolerate fraudulent use of...
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