Doctor’s LV practice under investigation
Federal authorities who filed felony charges accusing a Nevada physician of writing illegal drug prescriptions at a clinic he operated in Arizona are also investigating his Las Vegas practice.
Special Agent Ramona Sanchez with the Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday that it is difficult for law enforcement to believe that Dr. Albert Szu Sun Yeh, who ran a one-day-a-week practice outside Kingman, Ariz., was following the law in Nevada.
"The investigation is ongoing," she said.
On Monday the DEA and the Arizona attorney general alleged Yeh, 44, collected $3.5 million in fraudulent insurance claims, including $2.5 million from the state of Arizona.
Sanchez said authorities have seized some $3.9 million in real estate holdings and bank and investment accounts from Yeh.
"Some of that is in Nevada," she said, declining to elaborate.
Authorities filed 14 felony counts against Yeh, including conspiracy, assisting a criminal syndicate, money laundering and administering narcotic drugs.
In a separate indictment, seven felony counts were filed against Yeh's physician assistant, Bryan V. Espinoza, 54, of Henderson.
Attempts to reach both men by phone at two Las Vegas offices run by Yeh -- one on Rainbow Boulevard and another on Eastern Avenue -- were met with phone messages that said the offices had been closed indefinitely.
Sanchez said the offices were not closed by law enforcement.
Louis Ling, executive director of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners, said Yeh currently has a medical license in good standing in Nevada. He said officials with the board are looking at the actions taken against Yeh.
According to the indictment filed against Yeh, he filed more than 31,900 claims for insurance reimbursement between 2004 and 2009, a total that Sanchez said would have meant he was seeing a patient every two minutes, activity that she said would not be in compliance with accepted medical standards.
Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.
