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03/20/08 Panels Interpreting 4903.5 in Favor of Lien Claimants, Attorney Says 05/01/08 Applicants Can Pick Their Own Physicians Under 4605, WCAB Rules 05/23/08 Search Warrant Implicates Dozens in Alleged L.A. Fraud Ring 05/27/08 Premier Lawyer Says DA's Wide Net Part of a Smear Tactic 05/30/08 Investigators Arrest Doctor, Serve 22 Warrants in Fraud Probe |
| Premier Lawyer Says DA's Wide Net Part of a Smear Tactic: 05/27/08
At least 19 attorneys are named as "suspects believing to be working with Premier" Medical Management Services in a search warrant unsealed this month, but that list includes the company's corporate counsel and a California Applicants' Attorney Association board member who was hired to help the firm collect on liens for unpaid medical bills. Los Angeles attorney and CAAA board member Barry Hinden said Friday that the wide net cast by the investigators with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is a smear tactic designed to persuade his client to walk away from some $70 million in liens. He noted that both he and Premier's corporate counsel, Raymond Riley, are listed as suspects with no explanation in the search warrant of their alleged involvement in the purported fraud ring. "I think basically the search warrant was a witch hunt," Hinden said. "Why are they issuing a search warrant in '07 when the company closed in '04? What happened is a ploy on the part of the District Attorney's Office to try to get Premier and the principals of Premier to settle their claims." The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday or Friday. Premier is a now-defunct medical management company caught in a major consolidated lien case before the Van Nuys Workers' Compensation Appeals Board known as the "Yero" case. Investigators believe the company was a medical-legal mill that worked through a Los Angeles advertising company to illegally refer clients from attorneys for medical treatment in exchange for a cut of the medical bills, according to allegations in search warrants served in March and September 2007. The search warrants were unsealed only this month. "This is something that is being released now a year after the search warrant," said Hinden, who represents Premier in the lien case, but not in the criminal matter. "Why is it being unsealed now? The Premier case has gone to a mediator. They are in discovery." Hinden said so far investigators have made no arrests, showing that they have no real evidence against his clients. The search warrants describe 15 main suspects in the alleged medical-legal mill. They are: * David Wayne Fish Another section of the search warrant refers to attorneys who "may also be involved in the criminal conspiracy." Hinden and Riley, both attorneys who represent Premier, were on that list of 67 names, which also repeats the names of two of the main suspects. The list, labeled "Attachment A" in the search warrant, included at least 19 Southern California attorneys. In addition to Hinden and Riley, they are: * John Altieri WorkCompCentral telephoned each attorney's office on Friday but was able to reach only three: Jacobs, Luchenbacher and Slater. Jacobs declined to comment initially. She said she would call back later, but did not. Luchenbacher and Slater both denied any involvement in a fraud ring. Luchenbacher said he represented some clients who were treated by Premier facilities – as many Southern California attorneys have -- but did not participate in any illegal referrals or other criminal activity. Slater said last year he subscribed to one of the advertising companies that allegedly conspired with Premier Medical, Los Defensores, but he did not participate in any kickbacks or other illegal activity. He said he checked the firm out before he started using them and understood them to be a legitimate, Bar-sanctioned referral agency. "They refer clients and that's it," Slater said. Another portion of the search warrant caused hand-wringing throughout the Southern California legal community on Friday when a copy was posted on WorkCompCentral. The warrant lists 38 people – many of them lawyers – who had allegedly called one of the advertising firms suspected of participating in the fraud scheme. The list of callers includes a defense attorney and a well-known defense law firm. Although the investigator did not say there was any suspicion of wrongdoing, some of the attorneys listed were not happy about seeing their names associated with a criminal fraud investigation. Charles Cleveland and John Metz, partners in a Rancho Cucamonga applicants' firm, were both on the list of callers. Cleveland said it appears from the search warrant that the investigator ran an index to find attorneys associated with claimants treated by Premier. He said as with any index, there were likely errors on the resulting data report. To read the search warrant, go here: --By Jim Sams, Senior Editor
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