CALIFORNIA — Southern California healthcare clinic operator Oscar B. Abrons III was sentenced on June 27 to four years in jail for a $20 million Medi-Cal prescription fraud scheme, announced California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The Orange County Superior Court sentenced Abrons and will hold a restitution hearing to determine the exact amount owed. The fraud caused over $20 million in Medi-Cal losses.
“When healthcare operators take advantage of Medi-Cal for personal gain, they steal from taxpayers and harm community trust,” said Bonta, emphasizing that unlawful behavior will not be tolerated.
Abrons and Steven Derrick Fleming jointly operated God’s Property, an unlicensed clinic that paid Medi-Cal beneficiaries to obtain unnecessary prescriptions for HIV medications, antipsychotics, and controlled substances. These prescriptions were then sold illegally on the black market.
The scheme, involving Abrons, Fleming, and Orange County doctor Mohamed Waddah El-Nachef, ran from June 23, 2014, to October 1, 2016. During this period, El-Nachef became the state’s top prescriber of HIV medications.
Previously, Fleming was sentenced to five years in state prison, and El-Nachef received five years of local custody and surrendered his medical license.
The California Department of Justice’s Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse prosecuted the case, with 75% of its FY 2025 $69.2 million funding coming from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and 25% from California.
