Long Beach, Lakewood Residents Accused Of Fraud In Federal Healthcare Fraud Investigation

LONG BEACH, CA — A Long Beach man and a Lakewood woman are among eight people who were accused on Thursday by the Department of Justice of committing massive healthcare fraud.

John Keohuloa, 49, of Long Beach and Sonia Griffen, 51, of Lakewood, are among those accused, according to the Department of Justice.

Griffen was named in a five-count indictment, with the feds saying that from April 2019 to May 2024, she allegedly submitted nearly $5 million in fraudulent claims to ILWU-PMA’s health care plan through her wellness company, Bee Well Holistic Wellness Center, for purported chiropractic services given to union members, even though the plan had previously terminated Bee Well and barred it from submitting claims.

According to the indictment, to circumvent Bee Well’s termination from the ILWU-PMA plan and obtain payments, Griffen concealed Bee Well’s identity and involvement by arranging with two chiropractors to bill the plan under their names and at fictitious addresses.

She also submitted false claims billing the plan for chiropractic services that were never rendered, according to the DOJ.

In total, Griffen submitted about $4.9 million in fraudulent claims to the ILWU-PMA plan, resulting in payments of about $2.5 million, the DOJ said.

Keohuloa is one of a group of four people who, according to court documents, fraudulently submitted at least $19,005,463 in claims from January 2010 to September 2023, to International Longshore and Warehouse Union Pacific Maritime Association and other private health insurers on behalf of several chiropractic and physical therapy service companies: Ohana Wellness Center, Ohana Management Corp., and R3New Wellness – all based in Carson – and Huntington Beach-based One Life Acupuncture APC.

Keohuloa is said to have induced beneficiaries to visit clinics to receive medically unnecessary services, such as massages or endoscopies, in exchange for kickback payments.

In August 2022, the former owner of the Ohana companies testified under oath at a civil trial that the companies falsified patient chart notes and billed claims under chiropractors’ names and insurance numbers without their knowledge. A state court later that month found the Ohana companies liable for the fraud scheme.

In addition, from March 2016 to June 2023, Keohuloa is said by the DOJ to have conspired to submit about $700,000 in fraudulent receipts for a charity donation program operated by a Los Angeles-based oil refinery for which the company paid at least $500,000.

Keohuloa is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks, according to the DOJ.

Health care fraud-related charges in these cases carry a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year consecutive prison sentence.

“The defendants charged today allegedly turned hospice care into a cash-producing operation, resulting in more than $50 million in losses to taxpayers,” Inspector General T. March Bell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), said. “Today’s takedown reflects HHS-OIG’s commitment to deploy every tool at our disposal and collaborate with our law enforcement partners to dismantle hospice operations built on deception.”