A former chiropractor was sentenced to 54 years and eight months behind bars and ordered to pay $23 million in fines for having led a workers’ compensation fraud scheme that totaled $150 million in damages, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Peyman Heidary, 53, who court records show called himself “The Godfather,” was sentenced April 12 by Judge Charles J. Koosed, Southern California newspaper The Press-Enterprise reported.
Heidary was convicted in January on 68 counts of insurance fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and other charges, according to the statement.
Authorities found that from 2009 to 2014, Heidary had managed “several sham law firms and a network of sham health clinics” through which he would “recruit thousands of legitimately injured patients, referring them to his network of clinics to create unnecessary billing,” the DA’s office said.
According to the statement, Ms. Denise Rivera, one of the injured workers who testified in the trial, was working as a nurse assistant when she injured her knee. She said “she was recruited into Heidary’s scheme, but never received any effective treatment.”
“[Heidary’s employees] released me,” Ms. Rivera told jurors. “They told me … basically I was OK. My knee was OK.” When asked during the trial if her knee actually was OK, she simply responded, “No.”
Heidary was listed as president and past managing member of companies and health clinics in multiple Southern California cities, including Industry, La Habra, Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange, Riverside, Santa Ana and Corona, The Press-Enterprise reported.
“The California workers’ compensation system is designed to help injured workers get back on their feet without ruining them financially,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in the statement. “Sophisticated criminals like Mr. Heidary don’t just steal money, they take advantage of innocent patients.”
