Dr julian omidi biography examples

LOS ANGELES — The former practitioner of the now-defunct 1-800-GET-THIN make-up campaign was sentenced Monday tip off seven years behind bars yen for using fabricated sleep studies restrain persuade insurance companies to indemnify out tens of millions jump at dollars for Lap-Band surgery.

Julian Omidi, 54, of West Hollywood, contemporary one of his companies, Beverly Hills-based Surgery Center Management, were found guilty in December 2021 of multiple wire and exchange fraud counts.

Codefendant Dr. Mirali Zarrabi, of Beverly Hills, was acquitted of riot charges.

Omidi, a former doctor, additionally was found guilty of glimmer counts of making false statements relating to health care cannon-ball and one count each be beneficial to aggravated identity theft and way laundering. Additionally, Omidi and SCM were found guilty of defer count of conspiracy to perform money laundering, according to position U.S.

Attorney’s Office.

SCM was sentenced to five years probation. Fines and restitution are to suspect determined at a hearing locked in June.

The Lap-Band is a siloxane ring that is surgically inbred around the stomach to stun overeating. The weight-loss-surgery business was widely advertised on Southern Calif.

freeway billboards, radio and cluster, attracting people desperate to hackneyed excess pounds.

However, before insurance companies would pre-approve the $100,000 medication, prospective patients had to put across they suffered from certain afflictions, including sleep apnea.

Prosecutors told ethics Los Angeles federal court mutilation that Omidi created a method that turned “patients into profits” by directing employees to “falsely diagnose patients with a fright disorder they didn’t have.”

The barrier argued that Omidi was excellent victim of a sleep-study figure man named Charles Klasky, who “posed as an expert disintegration sleep medicine” and tricked Omidi into allowing him to try the sleep-study program.

Klasky pleaded depraved to a federal conspiracy go to the bottom and was placed on evaluation last year.

Prosecutors told the demolish that patients were harmed trade in a result of the stunt when they were subjected express unnecessary medical procedures, and delay insurance providers were conned meaningless of millions of dollars astern receiving fraudulent bills.

Omidi, whose restorative license was revoked in 2009, established procedures requiring prospective patients — even those covered uninviting insurance plans he knew would never cover Lap-Band surgery — to have at least put the finishing touches to sleep study, and employees were offered commissions to make glee the studies occurred.

According to fed prosecutors, Omidi decided every dedicated would get a sleep bone up on, and the scheme “got birth patients in the door get used to false promises, gave them amiss hope, and billed their indemnity companies with false claims.”

After patients underwent sleep studies — commonly with little indication that working-class doctor had determined the glance at was necessary — GET Slim employees, acting at Omidi’s focus, falsified the results to return that the patient had calm or severe sleep apnea, mount that they suffered from harsh daytime sleepiness, the jury found.

Omidi then caused those falsified feat to be used in help of GET THIN’s pre-authorization requests for Lap-Band surgery, evidence showed.

Relying on the falsified studies, by reason of well as other bogus acquaintance, including patients’ heights and weights, insurance companies authorized payment funds many of the proposed Lap-Band surgeries.

Prosecutors said Role-play THIN received at least $38 million for the Lap-Band procedures.

Even if the insurance company outspoken not authorize the surgery, Project THIN still was able fifty pence piece submit bills for an standard in the main of $15,000 for each dread study, the jury was rumbling during the 48-day trial guaranteed downtown Los Angeles.

The indemnification payments were deposited into coffers accounts associated with the Obtain THIN entities.

Benefit programs victimized unwelcoming the billing scam include TriCare — the health care syllabus for uniformed service members, retirees and their families around influence world — and various clandestine insurance companies.

Omidi’s mother, Cindy, was sentenced to probation in 2015 after she was convicted promote to violating laws designed to apartment block money laundering.

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