On Thursday, January 21, 2010, Lawrence Saks of Rolling Hills, was found guilty Thursday afternoon of 16 federal charges for billing patients and then their insurance companies for procedures that included facelifts and tummy tucks. The trial was before Judge Consuelo Marshall. Lawrence Saks has lost his medical license. His first trial ended up in a mistrial where it was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of guilt.
Mr. Saks was a licensed physician at the time of the acts alleged. His medical license was revoked in California in 2008.
The federal court jury deliberated about four hours before finding Mr. Saks guilty of four counts of health care fraud, five counts of mail fraud, four counts of false statements relating to health care matters and three counts of aggravated identity theft for using the names of other doctors while submitting claims to insurance companies.
The former Dr. Saks operated Madison Park Cosmetic Surgery and Laser Center, which had offices in Torrance and San Pedro. Madison Park offered patients elective procedures like face lifts and tummy tucks. The evidence presented at trial showed that Mr. Saks collected payments from patients for elective procedures and then filed claims with their insurance companies stating they had medically necessary surgeries, such as tumor removals and hernia repairs. Mr. Saks collected approximately $5,900 in payments after submitting nearly $87,000 in fraudulent claims to the insurance companies.
As a result of the guilty verdicts, Mr. Saks faces a maximum statutory sentence of 166 years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Marshall on March 29.
Mr. Saks has other legal troubles. He is also scheduled to go on trial on March 8 on charges of defrauding disability insurance companies that were allegedly paying him benefits after he told the insurers that he was not able to work. In addition, Mr. Saks had a prior tax related criminal conviction when he was charged and tried with the health care fraud counts.
The investigation into Mr. Saks was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Posted by Tracy Green. Should you have any questions regarding your own situation or this post, you can email Tracy at tgreen@greenassoc.com. Green & Associates in Los Angeles, California focuses their practice on the representation of licensed professionals, individuals and businesses in civil, business, administrative and criminal proceedings. They have a specialty in representing licensed health care providers. Their website is: http://www.greenassoc.com/
