Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on June 15 that 12 chiropractors have been charged in a $2.5 million insurance fraud and illegal kickback scheme involving automobile collision medical claims.

“Defrauding insurance companies is a serious crime that costs all of us in the form of higher premiums,” Gascón said. “We will continue to work with local, state and federal regulators to protect consumers from financial crimes.”

The case charges each the defendants with nine felony counts including insurance fraud and participating in patient referral rebates when licensed in the healing arts or as a chiropractor. Arraignment for most of the defendants has been scheduled on June 29 in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

The scheme’s alleged ringleader, Yury Chernega, 49, of Studio City, faces four counts each of the aforementioned charges as well as one count of money laundering. The charges include allegations of taking more than $500,000 from 30 insurance companies through fraud and embezzlement.

Additional suspects include Gilberto Gomez, 72; Omid Okhowat, 51; Lon Segal, 65; and Arash Noor, 40, all of Los Angeles, as well Edith Coronado-Grande, 57, of Glendora; Bruce Householder, 49, of Burbank; Christine Elvine, 51, of Arcadia; Luzan Madain, 46, of Canyon Country; and Payam Shayan, 51, of Tarzana.

From 2014 through 2019, Chernega allegedly offered to refer new patients to other chiropractors in return for an illegal referral fee, through which he collected approximately $2.5 million, prosecutors said. The patients allegedly had been involved in automobile collisions. The defendants also are accused of filing false claims for medical services they never provided.

The case stems from an ongoing investigation involving Chernega and 14 additional chiropractors filed in 2019 alleging $6 million in illegal referral fees. The District Attorney’s Auto Insurance Fraud Division investigated the case, with assistance from the California Department of Insurance, California Franchise Tax Board, California Board of Chiropractic Examiners and National Insurance Crime Bureau.