Man Pleads Guilty to Health-Care Fraud
A Granada Hills man has pleaded guilty to billing fraud as a result of a statewide undercover probe of false health-care claims, authorities said Wednesday.
Andrew Mazor, 36, operator of Countrywide Health Care in the 4900 block of Wilshire Boulevard, faces up to 30 years in prison and a possible fine of $750,000 because he overbilled government agencies by $38,000 and paid kickbacks to undercover agents posing as clinic employees, Assistant U.S. Atty. Rebecca Lonergan said.
Mazor is among at least two dozen operators of medical supply houses who have recently been charged with falsifying documents so that Medicare or Medi-Cal would pay claims for medically unnecessary wheelchairs, braces, beds or other equipment, officials said.
The FBI set up an undercover operation at a medical clinic in Encino as part of its investigation of Mazor and other business operators, Lonergan said.
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