Surgeon charged with $150 million insurance fraud that left many patients physically scarred

Munir Uwaydah, 49, owner of Frontline Medical, his personal lawyer and his former office manager are among 15 defendants named in the case that also alleges surgical procedures were performed by a physician's assistant who never attended medical school.

An orthopedic surgeon, his personal attorney and a cadre of assistants have been charged with operating one of the largest insurance fraud scams in California history, in amounts totaling more than $150 million, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey in a Sept. 15 announcement.

Dr. Munir Uwaydah, 49, owner of Frontline Medical, his personal lawyer and his former office manager are among 15 defendants named in the case that also alleges surgical procedures were performed by a physician's assistant who never attended medical school.

The physician's assistant operated on patients while they were under general anesthesia and without Uwaydah present in the operating room, the indictment states.

[Also: Running list of notable 2015 healthcare frauds]

All 21 patients sustained lasting scars and many required additional surgeries and suffered physical and psychological trauma as a result of their experience, according to prosecutors.

Uwaydah and staff allegedly deceived the nearly two dozen patients into having surgeries thinking they would be done by Uwaydah.

The surgeries were billed to insurance companies as if Uwaydah had performed the surgeries, according to the indictments.

MRI and insurance authorization reports were routinely altered to justify surgeries, and some surgeries were performed with no medical justification, the indictments allege.

The charges are the result of a five-year investigation.

Uwaydah was arrested in Germany and is awaiting extradition back to the United States, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Uwaydah and others of fraudulently billed more than $150 million to insurance companies and paid attorneys and marketers each up to $10,000 a month for illegal patient referrals, known as "capping," according to authorities.

A total of 102 people testified during two separate Grand Jury proceedings, one in February and the second in August.

Uwaydah and 10 other defendants were each charged with one count of conspiracy; 32 counts each of insurance fraud; 18 counts each of aggravated mayhem; and three counts each of capping or unlawful client referrals.

Uwaydah, the physician's assistant and three others were charged with three additional counts of aggravated mayhem involving patients. The charged billing fraud counts are related to billings for prescription medications, office visits and surgeries.

Uwaydah's personal lawyer and three others are charged as co-conspirators in Uwaydah's criminal enterprise. Charges include conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, money laundering, illegal patient referrals and filing false tax returns.

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If convicted, Uwaydah and 11 others face up to life in state prison.

Defendants include Paul Turley, 52, a chiropractor and Uwaydah's business partner; Maria Turley, 48, Uwaydah's director of surgery and Paul Turley's wife; Marisa Schermbeck-Nelson, 37,Uwaydah's personal assistant; Peter Nelson, 44, Uwaydah's physician assistant and Schermbeck-Nelson's husband; and Tatiana Torres, 45, Uwaydah's personal attorney.

Also arrested this week was Kelly Soo Park, 49, who worked as Uwaydah's office manager and personal assistant, authorities said.

In 2013, jurors acquitted Park of strangling 21-year-old Juliana Redding in her Santa Monica home in March 2008 -- a verdict that marked a defeat for the district attorney's office, according to the Los Angeles Times.

During the trial, a prosecutor told jurors that Redding was killed five days after her father broke off business negotiations with her ex-boyfriend, Uwaydah, the published report stated.

Twitter: @SusanMorseHFN