Ms. Morrow appeared in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on July 2, 2019 and entered a not guilty plea to a separate grand jury indictment
that charges her with contempt of court for fleeing while free on bond. During
that hearing, she was ordered detained and a trial date in the contempt case
was scheduled for August 27. She will make another court appearance later this
month to discuss the status of the pending health care fraud case.
Ms. Morrow and her husband, David Morrow, were arrested in Israel on June
16. David Morrow, who pleaded guilty in 2016 in the health care fraud case and
was sentenced in
absentia to 20 years in federal prison, is pending extradition
proceedings in Israel. David Morrow also faces contempt of court charges for
fleeing while he was pending sentencing.
Linda Morrow, who was the executive director of The Morrow Institute (TMI) in
Rancho Mirage, is charged with participating in a scheme to defraud health
insurance companies by submitting bills for more than $50 million for
procedures that were claimed as “medically necessary” – but are alleged to be cosmetic procedures such as “tummy tucks,” “nose jobs,” breast augmentations
and vaginal rejuvenation. The indictment outlines allegations where patients
were lured to TMI with promises that cosmetic procedures would be paid for by
their union or PPO health insurance plans. The indictment further alleges that
some patients who underwent multiple surgeries at TMI suffered severe medical
complications from the procedures.
The health insurance companies included Anthem Blue Cross, Blue
Cross/Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts,
Regional Employer/Employee Partnership for Benefits, formerly known as
Riverside Employer/Employee Partnership (REEP) and Cigna. When insurance
companies refused to pay for the cosmetic procedures for patients who happened
to be employed by public entities such as school districts, TMI made formal
claims against those public entities, demanding payments totaling more than $15
million from the California Highway Patrol, the Desert Sands Unified School
District, the Palm Springs Unified School District and the City of Palm
Springs.
The indictment naming Linda Morrow with conspiracy, 23 counts of mail fraud,
six identity theft charges, and one count of misprision of a felony for
allegedly failing to report the health care fraud scheme to authorities. If she
were to be convicted, Linda Morrow would face a potential sentence of more than
500 years in federal prison. An
indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. A
defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
