BEVERLY HILLS—On February 13, Gil Tepper, 59, a workers’ compensation doctor from Beverly Hills pleaded guilty to two felony counts of billing fraud for selling marked-up goods to his practice from his medical supply company for several years.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office indicated in a news release that under the terms of the negotiated plea agreement, Tepper is permanently disqualified from being a provider in the workers’ compensation system and is forbidden from operating any physician-owned medical supply distribution company.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jose I. Sandoval ordered Tepper to pay over $1.7 million in restitution to nine insurance companies who were overbilled for the medical supplies. Tepper was sentenced to six months of electronic monitoring and has to complete 300 hours of community service.

Close to $1.1 million in restitution will be paid from Tepper’s frozen funds and he must pay the remaining amount by sentencing on January 28, 2020. If the defendant fails to comply with the terms of the plea agreement, he faces a possible maximum sentence of six years in state prison.

From March 2006 and May 2014, Tepper submitted fraudulent invoices with overstated prices for medical supplies purchased by his practice, Miracle Mile Medical Center, from another company he owned, Metalink Distributors, Inc.

His co-defendant in the case, Jorge Antonio Vital, 46, is charged with eight counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit a crime and attempted perjury under oath, which are all felonies. The charges include an allegation of taking property valued at over $3.2 million.

A pre-preliminary hearing for Vital took place on Monday, February 19 in Department 50 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. The District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation was responsible for exploring the case.