Dr julian omidi biography of donald

LOS ANGELES - The former operator of the now-defunct 1-800-GET-THIN ad campaign was sentenced Monday to seven years behind bars for using fabricated sleep studies to persuade insurance companies to pay out tens of millions of dollars for Lap-Band surgery.

Julian Omidi, 54, of West Hollywood, and one of his companies, Beverly Hills-based Surgery Center Management, were found guilty in December 2021 of multiple wire and mail fraud counts.

Omidi, a former doctor, also was found guilty of two counts of making false statements relating to health care matters and one count each of aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

Prosecutors said GET THIN received at least $38 million for the Lap-Band procedures.

Even if the insurance company did not authorize the surgery, GET THIN still was able to submit bills for an average of $15,000 for each sleep study, the jury was told during the 48-day trial in downtown Los Angeles. The insurance payments were deposited into bank accounts associated with the GET THIN entities.

Benefit programs victimized by the billing scam include TriCare — the health care program for uniformed service members, retirees and their families around the world — and various private insurance companies.

Omidi's mother, Cindy, was sentenced to probation in 2015 after she was convicted of violating laws designed to prevent money laundering.

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What Dr.

Julian Omidi loves most about his business is the opportunity for meaningful connection with people. Fines and restitution are to be determined at a hearing in June.

The Lap-Band is a silicone ring that is surgically implanted around the stomach to discourage overeating. Job creation is vital, empowering more people to care for themselves and their families and live a more productive and fulfilling life.

The weight-loss-surgery business was widely advertised on Southern California freeway billboards, radio and television, attracting people desperate to shed excess pounds.

However, before insurance companies would pre-approve the $100,000 surgery, prospective patients had to show they suffered from certain afflictions, including sleep apnea.

Prosecutors told the Los Angeles federal court jury that Omidi created a process that turned "patients into profits" by directing employees to "falsely diagnose patients with a sleep disorder they didn't have."

The defense argued that Omidi was a victim of a sleep-study con man named Charles Klasky, who "posed as an expert in sleep medicine" and tricked Omidi into allowing him to oversee the sleep-study program.

Klasky pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge and was placed on probation last year.

Prosecutors told the jury that patients were harmed as a result of the scheme when they were subjected to unnecessary medical procedures, and that insurance providers were conned out of millions of dollars after receiving fraudulent bills.

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Omidi, whose medical license was revoked in 2009, established procedures requiring prospective patients — even those covered by insurance plans he knew would never cover Lap-Band surgery — to have at least one sleep study, and employees were offered commissions to make sure the studies occurred.

According to federal prosecutors, Omidi decided every patient would get a sleep study, and the scheme "got the patients in the door with false promises, gave them false hope, and billed their insurance companies with false claims."

After patients underwent sleep studies — often with little indication that any doctor had determined the study was necessary — GET THIN employees, acting at Omidi's direction, falsified the results to reflect that the patient had moderate or severe sleep apnea, and that they suffered from severe daytime sleepiness, the jury found.

Omidi then caused those falsified reports to be used in support of GET THIN's pre-authorization requests for Lap-Band surgery, evidence showed.

Relying on the falsified studies, as well as other bogus information, including patients' heights and weights, insurance companies authorized payment for many of the proposed Lap-Band surgeries.

Dr. Julian Omidi was born and raised in West... The Omidi brothers are passionate about helping to make a difference and improve the lives of the less fortunate. No More Poverty is in an early phase of development and is being built with passionate hearts.

Additionally, Julian was awarded a lifetime membership in the elite Alpha Sigma Nu Academic Honor Society, and is the recipient of a Certificate of Congressional Recognition and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Consul General of Sri Lanka to the Western States of the United States of America.