Attorney Who Paid for Referrals Blames Greed, Stupidity

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 | 0

Former applicants' attorney Sean Enrique O'Keefe told a San Diego County grand jury that he was "greedy and stupid" when he agreed to pay a firm to refer him clients so that they could run up bills for medical providers, according to a report Monday by The Center for Investigative Reporting.

Citing recently unsealed court documents, Reveal News reported that O'Keefe testified he earned about $1.1 million annually representing injured workers, and that about two-thirds of his clients came from marketing firms whom he paid for referrals.

"Clients or patients were essentially treated as commodities and billing opportunities," O'Keefe told the grand jury on Dec. 1, according to the report.

O'Keefe, who is now barred from practicing law, testified that many of his clients were referred by Centro Legal, a recruitment firm run by Carlos Arguello. An FBI agent testified that Arguello engaged in "guerrilla marketing," putting cards on parked cars and restaurants advising workers that they could earn up to $4,000 per month if they were injured at work.

A federal grand jury in January indicted Arguello, Fermin Iglesias and Miguel Morales on charges that they accepted kickbacks from medical providers in exchange for referring patients for diagnostic testing and other services. Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed to delay a trial in that case until at least Oct. 24 to give the defendants time to prepare.

Reveal News reported that prosecutors are pursuing more than a dozen criminal cases involving allegations of illegal referrals and have filed charges agianst more than 100 people allegedly involved in the scheme.