Two People Charged in $40 Million Medi-Cal Fraud Case

A federal grand jury in Sacramento on Thursday indicted two Los Angeles residents for defrauding and attempting to defraud Medi-Cal and Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment programs for over $40 million, making it the largest fraud case ever filed by the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento, the Los Angeles Times reports. Khaled Ahmed, 41, and Sandra Cervantes, 31, are charged with stealing doctors' and patients' identities to bill the programs for laboratory tests, drugs and medical supplies that were never provided and for services that were exaggerated or provided by unlicensed personnel from 1996 to 2000. According to the indictment, "[a]lthough the patients did not see a doctor or receive any treatment or services," the defendants submitted bills "as if those individuals had been to an office visit." If convicted, the two defendants could face a jail sentence of up to 10 years, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Linhardt said. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney said that Ahmed and Cervantes had not been arrested but would be notified to appear in court (Reiterman, Los Angeles Times, 10/10).