A Pasadena doctor who allegedly took part in a multimillion-dollar workers' compensation insurance scheme with a co-conspirator who is now an Orange County judge has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
Dr. Kevin Tien Do, 59, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and filing a false income tax return, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. Do allegedly worked with Liberty Medical Group Inc. between October 2018 and February 2023 and compiled medical reports that were used to bill the state’s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (SIBTF), according to federal prosecutors.
SIBTF provides extra compensation to injured employees who have already suffered from an impairment at the time a subsequent injury took place.
Prosecutors say Do was suspended in October 2018 from taking part in the California workers’ compensation program due to his conviction in 2003 of federal health care fraud, which is a felony. He was later sentenced to a one-year prison term.
Do’s plea agreement, which was filed in federal court on Dec. 6, does not identify the Orange County judge, who was previously employed as a prosecutor in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. The agreement simply refers to the judge as “co-conspirator #1.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s public information officer stressed that even though Do signed a plea agreement, he has yet to formally plead guilty in court.
“He signed a plea agreement, which is a promise to plead guilty,” Ciaran McEvoy told the Southern California Record in an email. “He is scheduled to plead guilty on Jan. 3, 2025. So, any reports of him pleading guilty prior to that date are erroneous.”
With regard to the identity of the co-conspirator, McEvoy said it was the Justice Department’s policy not to name people who are not yet criminally charged.
The unnamed judge apparently was a shareholder or owner of Liberty Medical Group in Rancho Cucamonga, even though by law medical company owners are required to be licensed in the practice of medicine or related occupations such as psychologist or registered nurse, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Even though not a doctor or other medical professional, and thus prohibited under California law from having an ownership in a medical corporation, co-conspirator #1 was the de facto owner of Liberty and completely controlled Liberty, including signing the checks from Liberty to (the) defendant,” the plea agreement states.
Though Do was suspended from doing workers’ compensation work in 2018, he continued to work on such matters at Liberty, including the writing and editing of medical-legal reports that were submitted to SIBTF, the plea agreement says.
“...To conceal that (the) defendant was continuing to participate in the SIBTF program, co-conspirator #1 came up with a plan,” the agreement stated. “... (The) defendant would continue to author the SIBTF-related reports, which Liberty would then continue to mail to the California SIBTF for payment. However, rather than listing defendant’s name on the billing form and the attached medical reports mailed to the California SIBTF … (the) defendant and co-conspirator #1 would instead list other doctors’ names on the billing forms and attached medical reports. …”
The SIBTF paid Liberty more than $3 million during the period of Do’s suspension, and more than $1.5 million of that allegedly went to a second, unnamed company controlled by the judge and his wife, according to prosecutors. Do was paid $306,000 during this period from Liberty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Do now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the mail fraud charge, as well as up to three years for tax fraud.
Gregory Dresser, director-chief counsel of the state’s Commission on Judicial Performance, told the Record he could not comment about whether a particular judge is or is not the subject of an investigation by the commission, since such investigations are confidential.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles E. Pell and Ryan J. Waters.