From November 2014 to August 2017, Vincenzo Rubino, 59, former owner and operator of Santa Maria’s Children and Family Center, submitted fraudulent claims totaling nearly $5 million to the a state program that provides family planning services to low-income Californians who lack health insurance for services that were never provided using names of two medical providers who were not employed by the center, according to a Jan. 22 news release from the Justice Department. The program paid more than $2.3 million for the fraudulent claims, as well as an additional approximately $1.5 million to a pharmacy and laboratory for claims from referrals from the clinic on the same services that were never delivered.
Mr. Rubino pleaded guilty in August 2023 to nine counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, according to the release. He has also been ordered to pay $3,815,478 in restitution for the criminal charges and a money judgment of $2,308,028.
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