The relatively upscale newcomers who came to Downtown Los Angeles in recent years to populate old commercial buildings as they were converted into residential lofts have often butted heads with advocates for the poor and homeless residents of the Skid Row district on the fringe of the city's center.
At least some representatives of both camps have found some common ground recently — although it's not likely the meeting of the minds that anyone had envisioned.
A federal case charging fraud by executives of a local hospital has grown to include a Downtown loft-dweller accused of recruiting Skid Row residents as part of a scheme to rip-off the Medicare and Medi-Cal healthcare systems operated by the federal and state governments, respectively.
A federal grand jury recently indicted Robert Bourseau — identified as a former co-owner and chief executive of City of Angels Medical Center in the Echo Park district northwest of Downtown — on allegations of recruiting transients to receive medical treatments they didn't need. City of Angels Medical Center officials would then bill Medi-Cal and Medicare for millions of dollars, according to the indictment. Federal authorities said they arrested Bourseau at his loft residence Downtown on January 30. Bourseau has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a date for his trial remained pending, as of this writing.
The 12-count indictment alleges that Bourseau and others conspired through Intercare Health Systems to recruit homeless individuals and others from Skid Row to receive the unnecessary medical treatments. Intercare is the name of the company that ran City of Angeles under the direction of Bourseau and his partner, Rudra Sabaratnam, according to federal authorities. Intercare regularly billed Medicare and Medi-Cal millions of dollars for in-patient services for the recruited patients, who were paid small sums to be hospitalized, according to the indictment.
Bourseau and Nicholson face up to 65 years in federal prison, if convicted, and Intercare could be fined as much as $6 million, according to O'Brien.
Sabaratnam, who lives in the upscale Brentwood district on the Westside, has already pleaded guilty to paying illegal kickbacks for patient referrals.
Estill Mitts, a co-defendant of Sabaratnam's has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. Mitts operated an "assessment center" in Skid Row, recruiting residents to receive the unneeded medical services,
Sabaratnam is expected to be sentenced on June 8, and Mitts on March 16, both by U.S. District Judge George H. King.
The investigation into the case came after Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers spotted five patients who had been left on the streets of Skid Row in October 2006. Authorities later determined those "patients" had been recruited for the alleged scheme alleged.
Sam Hassan is a writer for the L.A. Garment & Citizen.
Story photo by LA Beez
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