Local Doctor Agrees to Plead Guilty in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case

A Pasadena doctor who worked for a Rancho Cucamonga-based company with ties to a former Orange County prosecutor who is now a state judge has agreed to plead guilty to millions of dollars in workers’ compensation fraud, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Dr. Kevin Tien Do, 59, of Pasadena, agreed last month to plead guilty to single counts each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and subscribing to a false tax return, prosecutors said.

Do, who worked with Liberty Medical Group Inc., is accused of conspiring with a former Orange County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor who is now an Orange County Superior Court judge, federal prosecutors alleged.

The alleged co-conspirator was not named, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Israel Claustro has ties to Liberty Medical Group, according to psychologist Nhung Phan, who sued Liberty Medical Group in October for about $100,000 in unpaid bills she prepared for workers’ compensation claims.

Phan told City News Service that when she alerted the medical group she was not paid for 84 reports she prepared for the company from Aug. 2, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2017, Claustro initially said in an email that the bills were paid, but someone would have to go through storage to double check. When she followed up, the emails were marked as undeliverable.

“They never gave me information on it,” Phan said. “He kept saying they had to search through storage.”

Claustro’s attorney, Paul Meyer, told City News Service, “It is premature to comment.”

Kostas Kalaitzidis, a spokesman for Orange County Superior Court, said, “The court cannot discuss any case pending before any court, as ethical rules prohibit any such discussion.”

Do’s attorney, Eliot Krieger, declined comment.

Do was previously convicted in August 2003 for aiding and abetting health care fraud, according to the Medical Board of California. Do was sentenced to a year in federal prison in October 2003 and ordered to pay $366,031.24 in restitution, according to the medical board.

Do participated in a scheme to defraud Medi-Cal from April 1997 through the end of 1998, according to the medical board.

In his current case, Do admitted in his plea deal that from October 2018 through February of last year, he participated in a scheme to defraud the state out of millions of dollars in health care funds through workers’ compensation, prosecutors said.

Do drafted workers’ compensation-related medical reports that he would then bill to the state’s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund, prosecutors said. Do was suspended from the state’s workers’ compensation program due to his 2003 conviction, but he continued working on the program, prosecutors said.

Do fraudulently listed other doctors’ names on billing forms and medical reports because he could not do so, prosecutors said. Do admitted in the plea agreement that Liberty received more than $3 million by the state for the reports after his 2018 suspension, prosecutors said.

Do said in his plea agreement that the real owner of Liberty Medical Group is the sitting judge.

According to the plea agreement, that about $1.5 million went to the company’s owner and his wife. Do also admitted he failed to report about $66,227 of his income on his 2021 tax return.