{"id":263424,"date":"2026-04-12T03:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T03:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/263424\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T03:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T03:09:08","slug":"las-top-federal-prosecutor-makes-staggering-claim-about-scale-of-california-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/263424\/","title":{"rendered":"LA&#8217;s top federal prosecutor makes staggering claim about scale of California fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles\u2019 top federal prosecutor said that Californians can only imagine the extent of fraud in their state following the announcement of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/07\/us-news\/oc-fraudster-admits-to-submitting-270-million-in-bogus-claims-to-medi-cal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$270 million Medi-Cal scammer\u2019s arrest this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bill Essayli, First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California, didn\u2019t hold back while discussing the case during an appearance on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6392942575112\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fox News<\/a> \u2014 saying the the scheme unfolded during a nearly yearlong period when the state took its eye off the ball.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39062003\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bill-essayli-first-assistant-u-124901207_6f1ba7.jpg\" alt=\"Bill Essayli speaks at a press conference on the fraud epidemic in California.\" class=\"wp-image-39062003\"  \/>Bill Essayli, First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California, said the state took its eye off the ball. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe took $200 million from the state of California\u2019s Medi-Cal system in an 11-month period because they suspended their fraud-prevention measures that they had on their website,\u201d Essayli said, describing the case of Orange County\u2019s Paul Richard Randall, 66, who admitted to orchestrating a massive billing scam that drained millions from Medi-Cal. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo this guy took advantage of it. $200 million, one guy, 11 months. So just calculate how much fraud you think there actually is in the state of California.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia&#8217;s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Federal prosecutors say Randall, working through a business called Monte Vista Pharmacies, flooded the system with bogus claims for high-cost prescription drugs, many of which patients didn\u2019t need or never received.<\/p>\n<p>Between May 2022 and April 2023, the pharmacy billed more than $269 million and was paid over $178 million for 19 pricey, non-contracted drugs made with low-cost generic ingredients.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.75043937;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39062004\" width=\"427\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/paul-richard-randall-66-orange-125189203_527425.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of Paul Richard Randall.\" class=\"wp-image-39062004\"  \/>Paul Randall, 66, admitted to orchestrating a massive billing scam.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities say the scheme took off after Medi-Cal temporarily suspended its prior authorization requirement, a safeguard meant to ensure treatments are medically necessary before reimbursement.<\/p>\n<p>Without it, Randall and his accomplices allegedly billed tens of millions of dollars each month unchecked.<\/p>\n<p>Randall pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud committed while on release and has been in custody since June 2025. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison when he\u2019s sentenced on August 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles\u2019 top federal prosecutor said that Californians can only imagine the extent of fraud in their state&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,3130,457,4182,8733,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-263424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-fraud","12":"tag-gavin-newsom","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-money-laundering","15":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}