Patient "Recruiter" Sentenced for Surgeries Scam
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009 | Updated 8:16 AM PST
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Investigators say the woman was a "capper" who recruited patients to have unnecessary surgeries.
An Orange County woman was sentenced to eight years in prison for her role in a $154-million medical insurance scam involving patients who had unnecessary surgeries.
Olga Toscano was sentenced Tuesday in Santa Ana. She pleaded guilty to 98 felony counts, including insurance fraud.
Prosecutors said the 41-year-old Irvine woman was a "capper" who recruited patients to have unnecessary surgeries at an Orange County outpatient center. In return, the patients received money or discounted cosmetic surgery.
The county district attorney's office says the center was part of a scam that billed insurers for surgeries on 2,841 healthy
people in 39 states.
Nineteen people were charged in the case. Ten have pleaded guilty.
