1 month ago
2
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A Fresno County doc and income representative pleaded blameworthy Monday for conspiracy to perpetrate wellness attraction fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
According to tribunal documents, 51-year-old Felipe Ruiz of Fresno was a podiatrist astatine West Coast Podiatry Inc. (WCP), a podiatric aesculapian signifier with locations successful Fresno, Madera and Stanislaus Counties. The different antheral involved, the DOJ said, 52-year-old Jose Gabriel Aguirre of Clovis, was a income typical who sold tegument grafts to Ruiz and WCP.
Between June 2021 and January 2024, Ruiz purchased tegument grafts from Aguirre, who the DOJ said was not a licensed wellness attraction provider, to use the tegument grafts to Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
The DOJ said that Ruiz and Aguirre submitted claims to Medicare and Medi-Cal that falsely represented that Ruiz had applied the tegument grafts to the beneficiaries, erstwhile Aguirre had really rendered the services.
As a result, the DOJ said, Medicare and Medi-Cal paid Ruiz for the mendacious claims. Ruiz past made payments to Aguirre.
Ruiz and Aguirre are scheduled to beryllium sentenced connected Jan. 20, 2026, and look a maximum punishment of 10 years successful situation and a $250,000 fine.
