Cupertino Acupuncture Clinic Owner Pleads No Contest To Fraud

CUPERTINO, CA — The owner of several South Bay acupuncture clinics, including two in Cupertino, pleaded no contest Wednesday to two felony counts of insurance fraud, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

Dr. Hidenori Anto, who also goes by Dr. Yungyong Lu, was accused of illegally charging insurance companies hundreds of thousands of dollars for work that he was not qualified to do and treatments that never occurred, according to prosecutors.

The 61-year-old Saratoga resident masked his identity and misclassified patient treatments in what prosecutors called a “complex scheme” that he carried on between 2016 and 2020. He also billed for medical treatment on patients in some cases, according to prosecutors.

Anto is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 3, but his plea agreement requires five years of probation, one year in county jail and a restitution payment of $400,000.

Anto owns four acupuncture clinics in the South Bay — two in Cupertino, one in Mountain View and one in Saratoga.

“Medical providers hold a unique position of trust with their patients,” Deputy District Attorney Mattia Corsiglia said in a news release. "When they use that status to defraud insurance companies and line their own pockets, they increase our insurance rates and harm the public’s confidence in our healthcare system.”

Anto got around insurance companies’ “pre-payment review” process by obtaining new identifying information to submit a new bill, according to prosecutors.

The district attorney’s office said the investigation into Anto’s scheme spanned multiple years, with the help of the insurance companies.