An Orange County man has pleaded guilty to a scheme that involved the submission of nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal, working with two others from Moreno Valley and West Hills, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday, April 7.
Paul Richard Randall, 66, of Orange, admitted to carrying out the scheme through a pharmacy that billed the state’s Medicaid program for high-cost medications made with low-cost generic ingredients, federal prosecutors said.
According to court records, Randall worked with Kyrollos Mekail, 37, of Moreno Valley, and Patricia Anderson, 58, of West Hills, to take advantage of a temporary suspension of Medi-Cal’s prior authorization requirement for certain prescriptions, allowing them to bill large sums without the usual review. The claims involved expensive, non-contracted drugs that were unnecessary and, in many cases, never dispensed to patients.
Between May 2022 and April 2023, the pharmacy submitted more than $269 million in claims and was paid more than $178 million, authorities said.
Randall also admitted to laundering proceeds from the scheme.
He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud committed while on release. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3, where he faces up to 30 years in federal prison.
Randall has been in federal custody since June 2025.
Mekail previously pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Anderson is charged with two counts of health care fraud.
Related Posts:
- Judge denies request by ‘lookout’ accomplice to overturn conviction in Orange County’s notorious 1992 ‘honor roll murder’ News A long-running request by a man who spent more than a decade in prison for serving as a lookout during the notorious 1992 “honor roll murder” of a teen by his high school-age peers to have his conviction overturned has been denied by an Orange County judge. Kirn Young Kim,…
- LA County to join federal investigations into possible fraud in local hospice entities News As federal and state agencies investigate allegedly fraudulent practices within the home care and hospice industry in California, LA County will join in these investigations, in efforts to root out illegal practices that cost taxpayers millions of dollars. In a motion passed unanimously by the Los Angeles County Board of…
- Health insurers remove some prior-approval requirements for medical procedures News By John Tozzi, Bloomberg News U.S. health insurers have made it easier for doctors to get approval before providing certain types of treatment, industry groups said, calling it a sign of progress toward alleviating burdensome delays for patients. Related Articles Trump’s hunt for undocumented Medicaid enrollees yields few violators More…
- Do deputy gangs exist? Los Angeles County sheriff candidates weigh in News As part of this editorial board’s candidate endorsement process, we sent written surveys to all candidate for Los Angeles County sheriff. All candidates were asked identical questions. Here, we present their responses, only lightly edited, to the following questions: Are there deputy gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department?…
- Easter’s spirit of rebirth welcomed all over LA County News Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar, was greeted on beaches, in parks, in cemeteries, on mountain trails, along Skid Row and, oh yes, in churches all over Los Angeles County on Sunday. “Easter is indeed a season of rebirth and transformation,” said Rev. Michael Lewis, new pastor of…
(Visited 7 times, 1 visits today)