The Santa Clara County (Calif.) Superior Court this week sentenced the last of 15 defendants convicted of running a massive statewide insurance scam in which they set up a telemarketing company to push overpriced and unneeded prescriptions and medical devices to thousands of Californians. Seven were sentenced on felonies and eight on misdemeanors, with punishments including county jail.

"This group used people's pain and illnesses to criminally enrich themselves," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. "They tried to hide behind a maze of dozens of shell corporations and straw owners. We found them anyway, and now they will pay back their victims and be held accountable."  

The defendants, mostly Los Angeles residents, scammed about $40 million from insurance companies in the largest medical fraud case ever prosecuted in the county. Between 2015 to 2020, they operated an illicit call center, a durable medical device company and six pharmacies located in Southern California. They targeted unwitting patients throughout the state, filing and billing thousands of fraudulent prescriptions for such items as neck braces and pain creams.