A Filipino American rheumatologist, Dr. Claribel K. Chua Tan, and her husband, Daniel Tan, have been charged with health care fraud and tax evasion in Anchorage, Alaska. The couple, who run a clinic in Anchorage, were indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month for their involvement in a $10 million fraud scheme spanning 13 years, from 2010 to 2023.
According to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office, District of Alaska, the indictment alleges that the Tans submitted false claims to health care benefit programs. These claims misrepresented the type and dosage of medication, as well as the scope of medical services provided to patients. The couple also allegedly created false medical records and misled patients about the necessity and content of the treatments they received.
Federal prosecutors state that the Tans accumulated over $10 million in fraudulently obtained funds, with $8.5 million already seized from their accounts in a separate civil action. Additionally, the couple is accused of evading income taxes by providing false information to their tax preparer from 2014 to 2017 and failing to file any returns from 2018 to 2021.
If convicted, Dr. Tan and her husband face up to 10 years in prison for health care fraud, five years for each count of tax evasion, and one year for each count of failing to file a tax return. The Tans have been released under the conditions of surrendering their passports, being supervised by a federal probation officer, and not leaving Alaska without permission, as reported by the Anchorage Daily News.
Concerns have been raised about the couple potentially being a flight risk due to their reported ownership of a home in the Philippines. Dr. Tan received her medical degree from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine.