SoCal Doctor Charged With Stealing $150 Million From Federal COVID Program

A SoCal doctor was charged with stealing $150 million from the Federal Covid Program. Anthony Hao Dinh, 64, of Newport Coast, is alleged to have stolen the money through filing false claims for reimbursement under the Covid Uninsured Program. His alleged fraudulent claims were from July 2020 to March 2021.

The Department of Health and Human Services allows doctors to submit claim reimbursements if the patient did not have insurance and got a Covid vaccine or was tested and treated for the virus.

KTLA 5 reported:

An Orange County doctor was charged with stealing around $150 million from a federal program providing COVID-19 health services to uninsured patients.

Anthony Hao Dinh, 64, from Newport Coast operated clinics in Westminster and Garden Grove. He is a licensed doctor of osteopathy who was an ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as a facial plastic surgeon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Dinh allegedly stole millions of dollars by submitting claims for reimbursement under the Health Resources and Services Administration’s COVID-19 Uninsured Program.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides claims reimbursement to healthcare providers for testing, treating or administering vaccines to uninsured patients for COVID.

From July 2020 to March 2021, Dinh allegedly submitted false claims for treating patients who were already insured, services not actually rendered, and services that were not medically necessary, officials said.

“As a result of these false and fraudulent claims, HRSA made payments to defendant Dinh, through [his medical] practices, in the approximate amount of $150 million,” according to court documents.

KTLA continued: Officials said this is the “largest fraud scheme in the nation targeting the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program uncovered at this time.”

He was also accused of fraudulent loan applications which totaled in $8 million which resulted in the doctor being given $2.8 million.

He has been charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. He was released on $7 million bond and has an arraignment hearing at the end of October in US District Court in Santa Ana, Ca.

If he is convicted of all charges, he can receive a total of 50 years in prison if it runs consecutively.

The Gateway Pundit has previously reported on Covid fraud. IRS employees last year were charged with stealing Covid relief funds to finance lavish lifestyles.

Five current or former IRS employees in Tennessee and Mississippi fraudulently received thousands of dollars in COVID relief funds to finance lavish lifestyles, according to the Department of Justice.

The five suspects allegedly submitted bogus loan applications to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program in an effort to gain over $1 million in funding.

They then used the loan funds to finance their extravagant lifestyles, such as buying new cars, luxury goods, and personal travel, including trips to Las Vegas, according to court documents.

“The IRS employees charged in these cases allegedly abused the trust placed in them by the public,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division is committed to safeguarding that public trust and protecting pandemic relief programs for the American people.”

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