The pair and their accomplices allegedly bribed people from sober living homes to receive unnecessary surgeries, procedures, and tests.
A Beverly Hills surgeon, his girlfriend, and four others have been dubbed ‘real life Frankensteins’ after being charged in a $52 million insurance fraud scheme where they paid patients to undergo unnecessary surgeries and drug tests.
Dr. Randy Rosen, 57, and his girlfriend Liza Vismanos, 41, have both been arrested and charged with paying vulnerable patients from Southern California sober living homes to take part in medically unnecessary implant surgeries and to take cortisone shots as part of an elaborate fraud scam.
The tagged pair teamed up to defraud insurance companies out of about $676 million for unnecessary medical procedures and drug testing of patients they recruited into their offices until they were arrested in 2020. At the time of their arrest, they were receiving $52 million from the insurance companies.
Rosen pleaded guilty on Aug. 12 to making fraudulent medical insurance claims with an improvement in white-collar crime and faces 10 years behind bars, according to The OC Register. The surgeon was released from several other dismissed charges.
Meanwhile, Vismanos pleaded guilty to medical insurance fraud and dropped several other charges. She is under house arrest.
The pair share two children together and used the money they received from various health insurance companies to fuel their lavish lifestyle. In total, they billed insurance companies more than half a billion dollars for an estimated total of $676 million, while they had received at least $50 million from insurance companies for the bogus treatments they provided to vulnerable people.
The surgeon dubbed the ‘real life Frankenstein’ by Orange County District Attorney Spitzer, was remodeling a $3.2 million mansion in the hills of Brentwood, Los Angeles when he and his girlfriend were arrested and booked at the Orange County jail.
The million-dollar mansion with six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and a market cost of $8 million – featured a lap pool, wine cellar, and spectacular views of downtown Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean, according to The OC Register
The couple also splurged their fraudulent funds on luxury items, including cars, jewelry, art, handbags, and bars of gold and silver.
According to AWM:
The OC Register reported that Rosen pleaded guilty to filing fraudulent medical insurance claims. For his white-collar crime, he faces up to ten years behind bars. When he pleaded guilty to this charge, the scamming surgeon was released from other charges that had been pending. His girlfriend, Vismanos, pleaded guilty to medical insurance fraud and was sentenced to one year of house arrest.
“This is the largest prison sentence for a provider in a California workers’ compensation insurance fraud,” Orange County District Attorney said in a statement. “Dr. Rosen used vulnerable sober living patients who were desperately trying to battle their demons as an ATM machine to make a buck. He didn’t care about his patients; he only cared about making as much money as possible.”
Rosen’s scheme was massive.
“A doctor can easily take advantage of the vulnerability of drug addicts by ignoring the fact that the patient requires comprehensive treatment (mental and physical) in order to get better,” court documents read. “Oftentimes, doctors will work hand in hand with owners of sober living homes, other drug addicts, and what will be referred to as ‘body brokers’ to increase their profit.”
Source: AWM