Medical consultant faces new questions

Federal prosecutors are giving former medical consultant Howard Awand another chance to testify before a federal grand jury investigating fraud by Las Vegas doctors and lawyers.

Awand is to appear before the grand jury today under a grant of immunity. If he again fails to answer questions, prosecutors plan to haul him before a federal judge to be held in contempt. Awand refused to testify before the grand jury on Sept. 22, and a judge reportedly ordered him to do so if prosecutors brought him back.

Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, declined comment Tuesday.

So did Awand's Los Angeles attorney, Harland Braun, though he said he expects to be in Las Vegas today.

Prosecutors consider Awand, 66, the central figure in a network of lawyers and physicians that might have defrauded clients of millions of dollars. Doctors within the group were alleged to have been shielded from malpractice lawsuits, while members shared kickbacks from legal settlements.

During a roughly 30-minute visit to the grand jury on Sept. 22 Awand refused to testify against a handful of lawyers targeted by prosecutors. At that time Braun told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Awand had no damaging information about the lawyers, and was concerned that prosecutors were trying to find a way to charge him with perjury.

Awand was sentenced in June to four months in prison after a conviction stemming from irregularities prosecutors uncovered in a medical malpractice case. He is serving the sentence concurrently with a four-year term from a separate conviction for failing to pay $2.5 million in income tax. The government is pressing Awand to pay that amount plus $700,000 in restitution.

Late last week, prosecutors filed court papers seeking appointment of a receiver to oversee Awand's property and ensure the government is paid. Prosecutors said Awand and his wife, Linda, who also is serving federal prison time on a tax conviction, have roughly $3.2 million in assets, but nearly $5 million in liabilities.

The government fears one of the couple's properties, a $1 million Vermont bed and breakfast, may be sold by local authorities to cover unpaid property taxes.

Awand is appealing both of his convictions.

His troubles with the government stemmed from the handling of the medical malpractice case of Melodie Simon, who was paralyzed after spinal surgery in 2000. Two surgeons, John Thalgott and Benjamin Venger, were given immunity in exchange for their testimony against him.

Prosecutors alleged that Awand was the middleman in a conspiracy to protect Thalgott and Kabins from liability in the surgeries they performed on Simon.

Attorney Noel Gage, who represented Simon, sued anesthesiologist Daniel Burkhead instead of the surgeons.

Witnesses who refuse to testify before a grand jury can be held in contempt until they cooperate. A witness usually is jailed for the duration of the grand jury's tenure. The panel Awand is going before expires on Feb. 18, court officials said.

The contempt process, however, can be repeated when a new panel convenes. Braun has said holding Awand in contempt is unlikely to motivate him to testify because he's already behind bars.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@review journal.com or 702-380-8135 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.