An Orange County patient coordinator has been nabbed for his alleged role in shelling out tens of thousands to so-called "body brokers," according to federal charges unveiled today. Luis Guerrero, 53, was cuffed this morning, with an indictment accusing him of a kickback conspiracy tied to the addiction treatment facility where he worked.
The indictments, served hot off the presses of a federal grand jury on May 22, claim Guerrero was looking to to sinisterly satisfyingly fill a monthly quota by paying off brokers who delivered new patients to his employer’s facility. He's hit with one count of conspiracy and three counts of offering or paying forbidden kickbacks, dished out by the U.S. Department of Justice on their website. Guerrero, of Santa Ana, has an arraignment set for this afternoon in the United States District Court in Santa Ana.
The DOJ claims Guerrero negotiated kickback payments to two body brokers. In one instance cited, he agreed over an encrypted call to slide a $5,000 electronic payout to a patient, saying, "we’ll do something to put money in her hands before she leaves or before she arrives [home]," as per the indictment. These kickbacks were meant to tempt the brokers into sending more patients Guerrero's way and to spur the patients to let the clinic charge their insurance for treatment.
Back in October 2020, Guerrero supposedly hammered out a deal for a hefty $37,000 in kickbacks in return for the referral of five patients. A chunky $30,000 part payment was made to the brokers later that month. The allegations against Guerrero are just that, and the man keeps his innocence until proven guilty in the eyes of the law. If the court does decide against him, he may find himself locked up for up to 35 years.
With the FBI on the case, Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin R. Barron and Nandor Kiss are spearheading the prosecution. Public Information Officer Ciaran McEvoy asks that anyone looking for more info should reach out at [email protected] or ring in at (213) 894-4465.
