Shady Nurses Put Lives In Danger With Medi-Cal Scheme

 View Larger

Susan Bendigo is wanted for defrauding the Calif. Medi-Cal program of nearly $4.6 million.

Investigators say it began in May 2004; by the time it unraveled, it was the largest Medi-Cal fraud case in California history.

The scheme, allegedly hatched by two registered nurses, Priscilla Villabroza and Susan Bendigo, centered around the hiring of unlicensed workers to perform services to disabled Medi-Cal patients.

Authorities say they then billed Medi-Cal as if skilled, licensed nurses had done the work. In total, Villabroza's Santa Fe Springs-based company, Medcare Plus Home Health Providers, and its sister companies, Excel Plus and Unicare, bilked Medi-Cal and California taxpayers out of $4.6 million.

But the fraudulent activity didn't stop there. 

Disabled Patients Feel The Brunt Of Fraud

Prosecutors claim that all sorts of improprieties happened at Medcare, Excel Plus and Unicare ranging from falsifying documents to impersonating a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). 

Court documents state that Bendigo advised some of the unlicensed workers to lie about their licensing, identity, and qualifications and, if asked, to say that they were LVNs.

On July 9, 2009, federal and state authorities arrested 20 of the 42 defendants named in the indictment. Most of the people arrested either had little or no nursing training.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, these unlicensed nurses visited patients at home and at school and provided nursing services. 

However, soon some parents and patients began to see that these "nurses" weren't the real deal.  In one case, a "nurse" was unable to replace a tracheotomy tube that had fallen out of a young patient's neck.

In another case, a worker simply fled a medical situation when she couldn't provide care.

The victims?  Disabled patients, many of them children with cerebral palsy or developmental disabilities.

All of the defendants in the indictment are charged with conspiracy to commit health fraud, a felony count that carries a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison.

Villabroza pleaded guilty in 2008 to five federal counts of health care fraud and is awaiting sentencing.

She could be sent to prison for up to 50 years.

Bendigo was also charged in 2008, but fled the country. Authorities believe she could be in the Philippines.