Newport Coast doctor charged in fraud targeting pandemic program for the uninsured

A federal grand jury has charged a doctor from Newport Coast who operated clinics in Westminster and Garden Grove with defrauding a COVID-19 program for uninsured patients by submitting more than a quarter billion dollars in claims — ultimately receiving about $150 million in payments — for services not covered under the program or simply not provided, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Anthony Hao Dinh, 64 — a licensed doctor of osteopathy who was an ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as a facial plastic surgeon— was charged Wednesday in an 18-count indictment with defrauding the Health Resources and Services Administration COVID-19 Uninsured Program.

Dinh was initially charged in this case in a criminal complaint filed in April. The indictment expands the case by increasing the total amount of fraudulent claims allegedly submitted to HRSA, adding money-laundering charges and further allegations about other schemes to defraud pandemic relief programs, and charging Dinh with obstructing the government’s investigation into improper healthcare billing, according to the DOJ.

The indictment charges Dinh with a dozen counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering — with two of those charges alleging the transfer of more than $11 million to personal stock trading accounts — and one count of obstructing justice. Dinh, who is free on a $7-million bond, is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 30 in Santa Ana federal court.

The DOJ said the case represented the largest known fraud scheme in the nation targeting the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program.

Two other defendants charged with Dinh in April also face new charges.

Hanna “Hang” Trinh Dinh, 65, of Lake Forest, who is Dinh’s sister, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted helping submit fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications that sought more than $260,000 in COVID relief funds.

Matthew Hoang Ho, 66, of Melbourne, Fla., was charged in May in a grand jury indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering in relation to the Paycheck Protection Program and the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications, and he is scheduled to go on trial in February.

In relation to the fraud against HRSA, over the course of about nine months, from July 2020 to March 2021, Dinh allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for the treatment of patients who were insured, services that were not rendered, and services that were not medically necessary, the DOJ said.

“As a result of these false and fraudulent claims, HRSA made payments to defendant Dinh, through [his medical] practices, in the approximate amount of $150 million,” according to federal prosecutors.

The Uninsured Program was designed to prevent the further spread of the pandemic by providing access to uninsured patients for testing and treatment. The Uninsured Program was also designed to provide financial support to healthcare providers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by reimbursing them for services provided to uninsured individuals.

In relation to the PPP and EIDL program, the indictment alleges that Dinh submitted, or caused to be submitted, about 65 fraudulent loan applications that sought nearly $8 million and caused the programs to disburse about $2.8 million in funds.

If convicted, Dinh would face up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud and three of the money laundering charges, up to 10 years for two of the money-laundering charges, and up to 20 years for the obstruction of justice charge that alleges he submitted false patient records in response to a grand jury subpoena, the DOJ noted.