A podiatrist who operates in Orange and Los Angeles Counties has been indicted on charges of fraudulently billing Medicare more than $600,000 for procedures that were never performed. The foot doctor is accused of, among other things, submitting bills for procedures he claimed to have performed on patients with no legs.
Robert Ken Kasamatsu, 41, of Chino Hills, was indicted yesterday afternoon by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana on two counts of health care fraud.
The indictment alleges that Kasamatsu used Medicare beneficiary names and numbers to create and submit bogus claims for services that were never performed. The claims submitted by Kasamatsu included billing for “two-foot” services on beneficiaries who had one or both feet amputated, billing for services on deceased beneficiaries, and billing for services on beneficiaries where the beneficiary had never even seen Kasamatsu.
According to the indictment, Katamatsu submitted claims for nearly $630,000 in services that he never provided.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Kasamatsu has been summoned to appear for an arraignment next Monday in United States District Court in Santa Ana. If he is convicted of the two counts in the indictment, Kasamatsu faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
