From $21.5 million to $1.635 million.
AB Wire
The case involving surgeon Dr. Munir Uwaydah has taken a new turn. A Los Angeles judge on Friday drastically lowered the bail for several defendants charged in a $150-million fraud case that prosecutors have described as one of the largest insurance scams in California history, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy reduced bail to $1.635 million — from as high as $21.5 million — after dismissing aggravated mayhem charges in the case. The charges carried a potential life sentence.
Prosecutors argued that the aggravated mayhem counts were justified, saying that the scheme resulted in dozens of patients suffering serious scars after a physician’s assistant — not Dr. Munir Uwaydah, the certified surgeon patients believed would conduct the procedure — performed surgeries on them.
One woman testified to grand jurors that she was in excruciating pain after her shoulder surgery and later learned that whomever performed her procedure had accidentally left 24 inches of gauze beneath her skin.
But the judge disagreed with the prosecution’s argument.
“I just don’t find evidence of specific intent to permanently disfigure,” Kennedy said at a court hearing Friday.
A district attorney’s spokeswoman said the office is reviewing Kennedy’s decision, said the Times report.
The remaining charges, which are laid out in two indictments, include accusations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and “capping,” which entails illegal patient referrals, as well as other crimes.
Uwaydah, the accused ringleader who prosecutors initially said had been arrested in Germany, remains at large.
Read the full story: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-insurance-fraud-bail-20160415-story.html
1 Comment
I feel sad for all of these women that have children with this guys genes. This guy is a genetic failure if I have ever seen one. I would be scared that I would have little sociopathic/psychopathic children that I am unleashing into this world. There should be one lesson here to women: most middle eastern men do not hold any respect for women so please do a thorough background check before breeding with some psycho, at least the woman he murdered had an intelligent father who did this for her.