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Despite a flurry of motions to dismiss and motions to sever the cases of various defendants, as of this date, the trial of Dr. Mark Kaplan has been set to begin on September 22, 1994. Of the eleven people arrested, ten were indicted on one charge each of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and capping as well as various individual charges. To date, one person has been granted immunity and four others have plead guilty. One defendant, Helio Azevedo, remains at large and is being sought on unrelated murder charges by the Los Angeles Police Department. The remaining five defendants are set for trial.
As you may well recall, Dr. Kaplan and his associates were arrested on July 20, 1993, in one of the largest workers’ compensation fraud cases ever in the State of California. The organization, which was believed to be responsible for over $30 million in fraudulent insurance claims, was charged with using laid-off, Spanish-speaking workers to file claims against former employers.
A phony employment office, also run by Kaplan and his associates, was located next door to the clinic and was used to solicit the laid-off workers to file workers’ compensation claims. These workers, who usually spoke very little English, often did not understand what they were being asked to do and were reluctant to report their experiences to authorities.
Such claims, which are thought to cost the workers’ compensation system over a billion dollars per year, are cited as one of the major reasons that many businesses have been forced to leave the state of California. The cost of doing business is simply too high.
According to Rebecca Noblin, a Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Dr. Kaplan has been attempting to have his bail reduced since his arrest. He has exhausted his avenues of appeal in the state court system and currently has a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court.
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