Antoine L. Garabet, owner and chief surgeon of the Laser Eye Center (LEC), was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles that alleged LEC and Garabet participated in two schemes from 1995 to 1997 to defraud the federal healthcare program. The 45-year-old San Dimas resident founded LEC, a group of eye surgery centers with 23 offices throughout California.
From 1995 to 1997, the practice primarily involved refractive laser eye surgery. According to the indictment, the first scheme involved submitting false claims for services not performed, and the second involved submitting claims reflecting consecutive-day surgeries so as to increase the reimbursement they received from Medicare by 50 percent. Over the two-year period, Garabet submitted roughly 250 pairs of claims.
The indictment alleges Garabet would examine and identify a patient who was a candidate for laser eye surgery and would schedule the patient for a medical appointment at LEC. During the office visit, Garabet would purportedly perform a bilateral (both eyes) laser surgery procedure on patients and then send them home. However, he would document in records that he performed surgery on consecutive days—one eye the first day and the other the next day. Garabet instructed LEC personnel to create fee tickets falsely representing that the patient received laser surgery on consecutive days.
The case is being investigated by the FBI. Because of the ongoing investigation, no specific loss figure is available.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
State Farm Seeking Large Rate Increases in Wildfire-Prone California 
‘Extremely Dangerous’ Hurricane Beryl Takes Aim at Caribbean 
House Collapses Into Flood-Swollen River Near Minnesota Dam Amid Storms 
US Roof Maintenance Lags: Hanover From This Issue
