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OC judge sentenced to probation for mail fraud
Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Topline:
An Orange County judge was sentenced to one year of probation for his role in a mail fraud scheme to defraud California’s workers compensation fund.
Who’s the judge? Israel Claustro was a long-time prosecutor who won election to Orange County Superior Court in 2022.
What did he do? While working as an O.C. prosecutor, Claustro also owned a company that billed the state for medical evaluations of injured workers. That was illegal because, in California, you have to be licensed to practice medicine to own a medical corporation.
Anyone else involved? Claustro’s partner in the business was a doctor who had previously been suspended for healthcare fraud and therefore was prohibited from being involved in workers’ comp claims. Claustro knew this and paid him anyway, according to court filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
What does Claustro say? In a letter submitted to the court earlier this month, Claustro said he knows his conduct was wrong and realizes "that it contributed to ever-increasing public cynicism about government institutions." In an emailed statement, Claustro’s lawyer, Paul Meyer, wrote: "We appreciate the careful evaluation by the government and the fair sentence by the Court. This was a just result.”
Go deeper … on the latest in Orange County.
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