A Beverly Hills surgeon, his girlfriend, and four other individuals have been charged in a $52 million insurance fraud scheme for bribing patients to undergo surgeries and drug tests that were entirely unnecessary.
Following the incident and their charges, the group is being dubbed ‘real life Frankensteins.’
57-year-old Dr. Randy Rosen and 41-year-old Liza Vismanos were arrested for their crimes, which included them wrongfully bribing patient from a Southern California sober living home to undergo surgery and take cortisone shots.
The goal of the pair was to defraud insurance companies out of millions of dollars with of medical procedures and drug testing. Prior to their arrest in 2020, the couple defrauded companies out of $676 million, collecting about $52 million for themselves.
The OC Register reported that Rosen pleaded guilty and will be facing 10 years in prison. Several other charges were dismissed for the surgeon.
The surgeon’s girlfriend, Vismanos, has also pled guilty and is now under house arrest.
The money they received from the insurance companies was being using to fund their luxurious lifestyle that they shared with their two children.
Apparently the two were remodeling their $3.2 million mansion in Brentwood, Los Angeles, which is also where they were arrested.
The mansion wasn’t their only luxurious purchase, however, as the pair also splurged on cars, jewelry, art, handbags, and bars of gold.
According to AWM:
The OC Register reported that Rosen pleaded guilty to filing fraudulent medical insurance claims. For his white-collar crime, he faces up to ten years behind bars. When he pleaded guilty to this charge, the scamming surgeon was released from other charges that had been pending. His girlfriend, Vismanos, pleaded guilty to medical insurance fraud and was sentenced to one year of house arrest.
“This is the largest prison sentence for a provider in a California workers’ compensation insurance fraud,” Orange County District Attorney said in a statement. “Dr. Rosen used vulnerable sober living patients who were desperately trying to battle their demons as an ATM machine to make a buck. He didn’t care about his patients; he only cared about making as much money as possible.”
Rosen’s scheme was massive.
“A doctor can easily take advantage of the vulnerability of drug addicts by ignoring the fact that the patient requires comprehensive treatment (mental and physical) in order to get better,” court documents read. “Oftentimes, doctors will work hand in hand with owners of sober living homes, other drug addicts, and what will be referred to as ‘body brokers’ to increase their profit.”
Source: AWM
