RIVERSIDE – (INT) – Indictments against eight people accused of operating an international conspiracy to defraud the California workers’ compensation system of more than $123 million have been unsealed.

Prosecutors claim the defendants used sham medical clinics to take advantage of thousands of patients by prescribing nearly all of them the same high priced cocktail of unnecessary medications, regardless of the patients’ condition. Many of the medications were produced by pharmacies under the control of the defendants and the patients often received little, if any, of the medicine they were prescribed. The defendants funneled the fraudulently obtained proceeds from the scam through a network of shell companies.

The investigation of the Blue Oak Medical Group began in March 2017 by district attorneys in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Indictments were returned earlier this month against:

Kenneth Amodeo of Agoura Hills, a pharmacist
Rosa Bernal of Covina
Shannon Devane of Downey
Janek Hunt of Estonia
Edgar Lozano of Porter Ranch
Matthew Rifat of El Cajon, an attorney
Hector Sandoval of Sherman Oaks
Munir Uwaydah of Lebanon, an unlicensed physician

Sandoval and Uwaydah are not in custody and arrest warrants have been issued.

Story Date: January 28, 2019