Doctor accused of Medicare fraud

A doctor who once ran a Huntington Beach medical practice is accused of defrauding Medicare of more than $759,000.

Kenneth Wayne Ferguson, of Huntington Beach, was arrested Sept. 13 by federal agents and appeared in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, facing 10 counts of health care fraud and four counts of money laundering. If convicted of all charges, he could face a maximum 180 years in federal prison and $2 million in fines.

An alleged co-conspirator, Olena Kulakova, was arrested in Arizona Friday, said IRS Criminal Investigation spokesman Michael Moriarty. She was released on home detention except for work hours, and cannot work at any medical business, including a clinic she runs in Phoenix, Moriarty said.

The alleged fraud took place at Ferguson’s medical practice at the time, Huntington Beach Medical Center on Bolsa Avenue, from July through October 2004, according to the indictment.

Kulakova had no medical license in California, but presented herself as a physician’s assistant, saw patients and billed their visits to Medicare under Ferguson’s name, according to the indictment. Furthermore, the indictment accuses both of billing Medicare for far more extensive visits to Ferguson than patients actually received, as well as paying patients kickbacks to come for office visits.

Fergusonwas scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday afternoon, but the outcome of that hearing was not known by time of publication.