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Ventura County doctor headed to federal prison for role in Medicare fraud case

Photo by Tim Hufner/Unsplash

The Santa Paula doctor has also been ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution.

A Ventura County doctor has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for his part on a Medicare fraud scheme.

Federal prosecutors say from 2016 to 2019, Dr. Victor Contreras and Juanita Antenor submitted fraudulent and false claims for hospice care. They say the Santa Paula doctor signed off on claims for people who weren’t eligible for Medicare hospice coverage.

$3.9 million dollars in fraudulent claims were submitted. $3.2 million were actually paid.

Contreras pled guilty to one count of health care fraud. In addition to the jail sentence, the 69-year-old man was ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution. His co-defendant fled, and is still being sought. Prosecutors say a third person involved in the scheme will go on trial next year.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.