A Ventura County physician has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for his involvement in a scheme that defrauded Medicare of over $3 million. Dr. Victor Contreras, aged 69, from Santa Paula, was handed the sentence by United States District Judge André Birotte Jr., who also mandated restitution payments totaling $3,289,889.
Contreras admitted guilt on July 24 to one count of health care fraud. Between July 2016 and February 2019, he collaborated with co-defendant Juanita Antenor to submit nearly $4 million in fraudulent claims for hospice services through Arcadia Hospice Provider Inc. and Saint Mariam Hospice Inc., both controlled by Antenor.
Medicare provides coverage for hospice services only when patients are terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less. However, Contreras falsely certified that patients met these criteria without verifying their conditions with primary care physicians. Consequently, Medicare paid out approximately $3,289,889 based on these false claims.
Records from the Medical Board of California indicate that Contreras is licensed but has been under probation since 2015 with restrictions on his practice.
While Antenor remains at large, another co-defendant, Callie Black from Lancaster, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to recruiting patients for kickbacks and is set for trial on March 4, 2025.
The investigation was conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the California Department of Justice. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristen A. Williams and Aylin Kuzucan.