A former president and CEO of a medical clinic in Whittier has pleaded guilty to submitting fraudulent billings to a Medi-Cal health care program. This program provides family planning services to low-income Californians without health insurance. The defendant, Vincenzo Rubino, entered his guilty plea on the third day of his federal criminal trial, just as the prosecution was about to conclude its case.
It was revealed during the trial that Rubino was the founder, owner, and operator of Santa Maria’s Children and Family Center, a non-profit public benefit corporation in Whittier. The clinic was registered as a Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (Family PACT) provider under Medi-Cal.
Between November 2014 and August 2017, Santa Maria’s submitted fraudulent claims totaling nearly $5 million to the Family PACT program. These claims were for family planning services that were never provided. Rubino would often use the personal information of patients who were recruited at off-site locations with promises of free diabetes testing. However, these patients never received any examinations or services.
In order to submit these false claims, Rubino would use the names of two medical providers who were not associated with Santa Maria’s at the time. This included a physician’s assistant and an elderly doctor who was actually a patient in a nursing facility during the scheme.
The fraudulent claims resulted in Medi-Cal paying over $2.3 million. Additionally, a pharmacy and laboratory received an extra $1.5 million in payments for referrals based on these nonexistent services.
Sentencing for Rubino is scheduled for January 22, where he could face up to 10 years in federal prison for each count of health care fraud. He will also serve a mandatory sentence of two years for each count of aggravated identity theft, consecutive to the other sentences.
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