Newport Beach, Malibu docs charged in $17M workers comp fraud scheme

Prosecutors on Monday accused a Newport Beach physician and three others as defendants in a $17-million workers' compensation insurance fraud. The Orange County district attorney's office and the California Department of Insurance released a grand jury transcript and a 181-page indictment listing 884 charges against Dr. Sim Carlisle Hoffman, 59, a radiologist from Newport Beach, according to the Daily Pilot. Also charged were Dr. Thomas Michael Heric, 74, of Malibu; Louis Umberto Santillan, 44, of Chino Hills; and Beverly Jane Mitchell, 60, of Westlake Village.