Lokesh Tantuwaya, an Indian American neurosurgeon, has pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge of accepting about $3.3 Million in illicit payments in order to perform spinal surgery at the Long Beach hospital which is a now-defunct business.
The owner of the hospital was later imprisoned for a massive workers' compensation system scam.
San Diego's Tantuwaya said he accepted money from Michael Drobot, who owned the Pacific Hospital in Long Beach. The money was in exchange for performing spinal surgeries at that hospital and the amount depended on the type of spinal surgery.
Pacific Hospital in its final five years committed a scam that resulted in the submission of more than $500 Million in medical bills for spine surgeries that involved kickbacks.
In his plea agreement, Tantuwaya admitted that he knew or deliberately was ignorant about the fact that the payments were given to him in exchange for bringing patient surgeries to Pacific Hospital.
The law enforcement brought the scheme to a halt in April 2013 when they searched the Pacific Hospital, which was sold later that year. Up until now, 23 defendants have been convicted in this case for participating in the kickback scheme.
Tantuwaya will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for December 9.
(With inputs from India West)
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