Final Defendant Pleads Guilty to Defrauding California Workers’ Compensation System

FRESNO, Calif. — John Thomas Terrence, 75, of Marina del Rey, pleaded guilty today to health care fraud involving a scheme to defraud the California workers’ compensation insurance system, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Terrence, a clinical psychologist saw patients in Bakersfield by “Skype,” generated reports for each patient that were virtually word-for-word identical, and then submitted identical bills to the insurance companies. Co-defendants Bhahar Gharib-Danesh, 41, of Woodland Hills, and Na Young Eoh, 44, of Bakersfield, were chiropractors working at the same company.  They previously pleaded guilty to health care fraud charges in this case.  The three defendants admitted to assisting in submitting bills to workers’ compensation insurers for medical-legal evaluations for which they were not legally permitted to bill.

Pain Free Diagnostics Inc. (dba Pain Free Management) pleaded guilty on July 9, 2018, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and agreed to pay restitution to the defrauded worker’s compensation insurers in the amount of $1.2 million.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Department of Insurance Fraud Division, and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark J. McKeon and Michael Tierney are prosecuting the case.

Terrence is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on October 22, 2018; Gharib-Danesh is scheduled to be sentenced on October 1, 2018; and, Eoh is scheduled to be sentenced on September 4, 2018.  Each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.