LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles County prosecutors have refiled criminal charges against a dozen people accused of taking part in a $150 million workers’ compensation insurance fraud.
The 12 defendants were originally included in a 2015 grand jury indictment, but on Thursday a Superior Court judge granted a request by the district attorney’s office to dismiss those charges.
Prosecutors then immediately refiled the allegations in three separate criminal complaints to streamline the complex litigation and restore several counts that had been dismissed earlier.
The original indictment remains pending against an orthopedic surgeon and his office manager, who are both fugitives.
The alleged conspiracy involved paying lawyers and marketers as much as $10,000 a month for illegal patient referrals, known as “capping.” A physician’s assistant who never attended medical school allegedly performed surgeries.
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