By SDCN Staff
San Diego, CA–San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced criminal charges against the owner of several medical centers who was bilking Medicare and insurance companies through phony billing practices, money laundering and practicing medicine without a license.
Kim Huynh, 51, billed more than $11 million for tests and treatment not covered under insurance plans, Stephan added.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Huynh directed the medical billers in her clinic, Tubi Connect, Inc., to submit claims of service for EEGs, which are scans used to diagnose conditions such as epilepsy or seizure disorders a service they did not provide, rather than the quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) scans her clinic performed. QEEGs are not covered by Medicare or private supplemental insurance, except under limited and exceptional circumstances.
“When someone steals millions of dollars from our healthcare system, it diverts critical resources away from patients who truly need care and undermines public trust,” DA Stephan said. “This defendant brazenly billed more than $11 million in fraudulent claims, laundered the proceeds, and operated a clinic that was practicing medicine without a license. That kind of deception puts consumers at risk from both the misappropriation of taxpayer dollars and patient safety at risk.
Stephan added that her office worked alongside the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General to uncover the scheme and hold Huynh accountable.
“Those who exploit the healthcare system for personal gain will be investigated, prosecuted, and brought to justice,” Stephan said.
Huynh owned and operated medical centers located in San Diego, Orange County and Texas, called Tubi Connect, Inc. The clinics provided medical care to neurodivergent senior citizens through neurofeedback therapy, an unproven experimental form of therapy in which a patient undergoes multiple quantitative electroencephalogram scans of their brain with the intent of retraining their brains to normalize activity. The scans were performed by unlicensed technicians, and the results were “interpreted” by clinic co-owner, Iman Shirali, who would present himself as a doctor, though he had no medical training or certification. Shirali has since died.
“The extensive fraud perpetrated against our health care system allegedly committed by Kim Huynh is unconscionable,” said TJ Holland, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “The FBI is committed to investigating fraud against the government, to include health care fraud, using all our available resources.”
The charges are the result of FBI San Diego and its partners in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
By claiming to provide the services that Huynh did not render, she fraudulently billed Medicare over $10 million resulting in more than $4.6 million being paid. Private insurance carriers were billed for more than $600,000 resulting in more than $100,000 being paid.
“Billing Medicare for unproven treatments, fabricated neurological testing, and services performed by unqualified individuals is a serious breach of trust,” said Robb Breeden, Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.
Huynh was arrested on March 11. She pleaded not guilty at her arraignment. Her bail was set at $750,000 and will be in court on March 18 for a bail review hearing. If convicted, she faces 14 years in prison.
